Before the gates opened for the fifth annual Rome Beer Festival, the line of people stretched from the Heritage Park venue to Broad Street, festival organizers said.

Saturday’s event exceeded all previous years, said Wright Ledbetter, chairman of the Rome Area Council for the Arts, which has sponsored the Rome Beer Fest since 2008.

Proceeds from the festival support RACA.

“The weather also contributed to the success,” Ledbetter said as patrons roamed among the tents and music played during the last hour of the festival, which took place from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Heritage Park.

Final numbers will not be available until later this week, Ledbetter said. But he estimated at least 1,000 people attended, which was nearly double the 550 who attended last year.

Tickets were $25 in advance and $30 if they were purchased at the gate on Saturday.

“We had so many walkups,” Led­better said.

This year’s Beer Fest was not only the best attended, but there were also more varieties of beer featured than ever before.

“We had 50 last year,” Ledbetter said. “We had 89 this year.”

The samplings included Finch’s Beer, a craft beer from Chicago, Ill., and Shock Top, a beer that has won several awards in competitions.

Georgia breweries Terrapin Brewing Co., Sweetwater, Monday Night and Red Hare were also featured.

This year’s variety of beers was attributed to the hard work of the sponsors, United Distributors, Eagle Rock and North Georgia Distributing, Ledbetter said.

While some festivalgoers were sampling beer, others were dancing and sitting on the lawn listening to the music, which was provided by Jerry On the Moon, My Ninja, Shameless Natives, and beer cover songs performed by Muletide Perkins Trio.