With drinks in hand and dodging pop-up rainstorms Saturday afternoon, neighbors crowded on Ravenswood Avenue for an afternoon of beer tasting and community camaraderie.
Patrons bounced between the row of white tents at Ravenswood On Tap for a beer sampling, full pour, food and art from the North Side neighborhood’s local businesses. Local rock bands set the upbeat mood of the street festival on a pop-up stage near its south entrance.
Following some off-and-on rain showers, crowds were still light as the event kicked off, though organizers expected more than 10,000 people to pass through over the event’s weekend span, according to Amy Czarkowski, director of marketing and events for the Greater Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce.
Nine years running, Ravenswood On Tap is a small street festival that ties together music, malts, and mini golf. The weekend-long event, featuring all eight Malt Row breweries, is free for the community to attend and runs through Sunday.
“We like to think of ourselves as a neighborhood third space, so we love to participate in all these beer festivals and any sort of neighborhood community events we can,” said Lucia Vecchio, the event coordinator at Spiteful Brewing.
It’s these kinds of strong community ties between neighbors and the Malt Row breweries that have been a key to keeping Ravenswood breweries afloat and active at a time when many other Chicagoland independent breweries have closed their doors for good.
In 2026 alone, Chicago lost Casa Humilde in Forest Park, Whiner Beer Co. in Back of the Yards and Illuminated Brew Works in Norwood Park. Just outside the city, Blue Island Beer Company in Blue Island shut down, as did Miskatonic Brewing Company in Darien. Pollyanna Brewing & Distilling closed in February, but was purchased by Alarmist Brewing, with plans to bring its Sauganash taproom back to life.
“For a while there, it got very commercialized. You couldn’t go across the street without finding another brewery; there were so many of them, said Greg Weber, who attended the festival with his wife, Sherry. He was sipping on a pour from Hop Butcher for the World. “From economic issues, that kind of thinned everything out, so a lot of the ones left standing are the really good, prominent ones.”
The healthy balance of competition and collaboration among the Ravenswood breweries has made Malt Row a drinking destination for many, both Chicagoland locals and visitors alike.
“You have to uphold the quality because the competition in Chicago is just that good,” said Kasia Slys, a Mount Prospect resident and first-timer at Ravenswood On Tap. “So, all of them end up being good.”
Czarkowski said it’s events like Ravenswood On Tap, which bring together the neighborhood breweries, that have led to the long-term success of Malt Row, at a time when others have shuttered their taps.
“We are so lucky that all our breweries are so passionate about what they do and are so integrated into the community in their own ways,” Czarkowski said. So it makes it easy for us to get them all together and get them excited about things we do at the Chamber.”
