Great American Beer Festival runs from Thursday to Saturday at the Convention Center

DENVER - Thirsty? The Great American Beer Festival kicked off in downtown Denver Thursday evening.

Hundreds of breweries are taking over the Colorado Convention Center for three days. At least 60,000 tickets were sold.

Organizers say the festival could bring in as much as $30 million for the city.

The event is sold out, but there may still be last-minute deals on ticket sites for the weekend festivities.

Founded in 1982, the Great American Beer Festival boasts the largest collection of domestic beers in a public tasting event. There's also a competition between the brewers.