Well friends, we did it. We’re throwing our hands up in the air and waving goodbye to the 25,000+ plastic cups that once found themselves at home in our glorious beer gardens. Plastic no more.

Pickathon has always been run with thoughtful attention to energy generation and consumption, minimizing waste, and a leave-no-trace mentality. This year we have taken a huge step and committed to eliminating all plastic beverage containers, making Pickathon the first music festival in the country to go plastic (bottle and cup) free.

Bottled water in single-use plastic containers will not be sold, or available at the event. In addition, the compostable corn-based cups that were used in the beer gardens in the past will be replaced with reusable stainless steel cups designed and manufactured by Klean Kanteen. Free water will be available in multiple locations and you are encouraged to bring your own bottle or take advantage of the beautiful Pickathon Klean Kanteens that will be available at the merchandise booth.

Here’s the scoop on how the cups will work:

16 oz. Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel cups will be the only vessel allowed for use in the Pickathon Beer Gardens. These cups will be purchased for $5 and can be reused throughout the weekend, Widmer beers are on tap and will be $4 a piece for a 16 oz. pour. Cups must enter and exit the Beer Gardens empty. It’s that simple.

There will be ample cup rinsing stations to help keep cups clean and within the beer gardens there will be cup racks for folks that want to mark their cups and utilize the honor system for convenient storage. At the Klean Kanteen booth there will be free ‘collars’ that can slip onto the cup and with the use of a ‘d-ring’ can be hooked or hung on just about anything.

This is a test for Pickathon and we need everyone on board to help make it happen. If we cannot make it work, who can?

So check it out above, that’s the real deal up there… plus our amazing (out of focus) Brew Crew.