Untapped Dallas boasts musical acts in addition to over 70 breweries, including the Fancy Lawnmower brew from Texas’ oldest brewery, Saint Arnold at the event in Dallas, Texas on Saturday, September 7, 2013. (Elizabeth Erickson)

A company owned by The Dallas Morning News is the majority owner of Untapped indie music and craft beer festival, according to an announcement Monday.

• Photos: Craft brews, indie music and food at Dallas’ Untapped festival

• Review: Untapped Festival brews a near-perfect day of indie beer and music

Event marketing company CrowdSource, which was created by The Dallas Morning News in 2012, recently purchased majority ownership of the festival. The company did not report the percentage it owns.

CrowdSource will facilitate the production and marketing of Untapped festivals in Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston, as well as Canned craft beer festival in Denton, Texas. The company also plans to expand the event to new cities in 2015, according to General Manager Alison Draper.

“While we have no intention of changing these popular festivals, we are eager to get to work with a team at Untapped to grow the brand and further enhance the attendee experience,” Draper said. New locations for the festival have yet to be decided, she added.

CrowdSource will work with Spune Productions, the local concert promotion and production company that founded Untapped, and Corey Pond, owner of Dallas bar and restaurant the Common Table, to produce the festivals.

“Partnering with CrowdSource will provide us with the resources to realize our dream of growing this event regionally and nationally,” said Matthew Harber, chief executive officer of Spune.

In 2013, Spune partnered with Paste magazine, the primary sponsor of Untapped in Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston, with the intention of throwing festivals in Atlanta and Nashville. Paste’s sponsorship was not renewed and the publication has no current involvement with the festival, Spune said.

Untapped originated in Dallas in 2012. The festival, which complimented North Texas’ burgeoning craft beer scene, sold out in its first year. In 2013, more than 4,500 people attended the Dallas event to sample beer from upwards of 70 breweries and listen to eight internationally-renown musicians, including indie rock band Delta Spirit and hip-hop duo Blackalicious. The same year, CNN listed Untapped as one of the country’s best beer festivals.

This year, Untapped Dallas takes place November 1 and coincides with North Texas Beer Week. The Dallas Morning News will produce a guide to North Texas Beer Week featuring more 300 beer-centric events in D-FW.

Through these initiatives, Jim Moroney, the paper’s publisher and chief executive officer, said he hopes to attract new audiences within the craft beer scene.

“Among the goals we had when we formed CrowdSource was to extend our reach to certain consumer segments like Millenials, and to create or acquire events that could scale,” Moroney said, adding that he looks forward to growing Untapped festival in existing and new markets.

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