San Diego Professionals Against Cancer Presents the 18th Annual San Diego Festival of Beer on Friday, September 21

SAN DIEGO, CA, June 08, 2012 (Press-News.org) The 18th Annual San Diego Festival of Beer--San Diego's original beer festival and cancer fighting fundraiser--returns to downtown San Diego on Friday, September 21 from 6 - 11 p.m. The outdoor event that draws beer lovers from around the county will once again take over the streets at Columbia and B (across from W San Diego).

Presented by 100.7 JACK FM, San Diego Festival of Beer guests can sample from over 60 different breweries and 120 varieties of some of the nation's best craft beer, enjoy live music on two stages, purchase food from San Diego food trucks and restaurants - all while raising money for local cancer charities.

Tickets are available now through TicketDerby.com. Each ticket includes admission into the event, 10 (4 oz) beer tastes and a special souvenir tasting mug for the first 4,000 attendees. Additional tastes may be purchased inside the event for $10 for 10 additional tastings and $5 for five tastings. Wine and merchandise are also available for purchase, as well as food from local vendors and food trucks. Ticket prices are $35 through Aug. 31 and $40 beginning September 1.

"We started this festival 18 years ago as a fundraising event for local cancer charities. At the time, San Diego's craft beer scene was really just getting started, and a lot of our friends were involved in it. We wanted to do a new type of fundraiser - something fun that people would really enjoy. And it just kind of clicked," said Co-Founder of San Diego Professionals Against Cancer Rachel Cano, who also serves as a Deputy District Attorney for the County of San Diego. "At that time, in 1994, there were really no other beer festivals. We held the first event at the Embarcadero and we had maybe 700 people there. We had 40 or so brewers and music from the Juke Stompers and the Mississippi Mud Sharks. Karl Strauss himself was there at his booth for a few hours. It's amazing how much the event has grown in 18 years."

The San Diego Festival of Beer is the largest fundraiser of San Diego Professionals Against Cancer and the only festival to donate 100 percent of its proceeds to local cancer fighting charities. To date, the San Diego Festival of Beer has raised and donated more than $600,000 for San Diego hospitals, research centers and patient services. Recent donations have included Rady Children's Hospital, Cancer Angels and the American Cancer Society.

"I think a lot of people who come to the festival don't even realize it's a cancer fundraiser," said Candace Brown, Co-Founder of San Diego Professionals Against Cancer. "Since we started 18 years ago, we've raised over $600,000 for local cancer charities. It's been amazing to work with such a great group of dedicated people from the San Diego business community who volunteer their time to make the festival a reality, year after year. Last year was really interesting because we had the San Diego blackout the day before our event - we weren't sure we were going to have an event! But the lights came back on and the event went on without a hitch. I think this year, there's some added excitement with it being our 18th year. We're looking forward to hosting our best festival yet!"

For more information or to purchase tickets go to www.sdbeerfest.org. Join our social networks to be the first to know about exciting upcoming Festival news and exclusive contests: Facebook and Twitter.

About San Diego Professionals Against Cancer
San Diego Professionals Against Cancer (SDPAC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to generating monies for cancer research, patient treatment, and services through fund-raising events such as our flagship San Diego Festival of Beer. The organization is comprised of local area professionals who volunteer their time, energy, and resources to organize local social events with the mutual goals of raising money for charity, benefiting corporate sponsors, vendors and donors, and creating a source of entertainment for the local community. For more information, visit www.sdbeerfest.org.