TIJUANA – Thousands turned out Friday for the first of two days of celebration of the best craft beer.

The seventh annual TJ Beer Fest continues Saturday, from noon to 2 a.m., between Sixth and Eight streets, on avenida Revolución, minutes from the San Ysidro port of entry. Last year, around 15,000 people attended from both sides of the border.

Baja California is a Mexican hub for breweries and microbreweries and many of those beers were available for sampling. For $9, participants receive a commemorative glass and can sample three of the 100 beers that are being featured. (Must be 18 and older for beer tastings.)

The recently published "Guide to Beer in Mexico," by Tijuana's Culinary Art School, rated the 152 brands sold in that country. The guide's top dozen artisan beers were featured at the festival.

Among them are Cucapá Barley Wine Ale and Cucapá Chupacabras, from Cervecería de Baja California, headquartered in Mexicali; Tijuana Bufadora and Tijuana Güera from Consorcio Cervecero de Baja California, in Tijuana;

Calavera Mexican Imperial Stout, from

Microcervecería Gourmet de Naucalpan, and Tempus Reserva Especial de Andreu Primus S.A., from Tlanepantla, both from the State of Mexico;

and Minerva Stout Imperial de Zapopan, from Jalisco.

This is not your parents' "cerveza." Some of Tijuana's leading chefs will be sharing their recipes that use beer as an ingredient as well as dishes especially prepared to be accompanied by beer.

The festival also features a sampling of fare from the city's restaurants as well as live entertainment, which is free with a paid admission to the event. Saturday's concert presents the unique norteña-electronic music of the Nortec Collective.

The festival is one of many cultural, business and government-sponsored events being held over a month as part of the city's 122nd anniversary.