Beer festival
A Beer Festival is an organised event during which a variety of beers (and often other alcoholic drinks) are available for tasting and purchase. Beer festivals are held in a number of countries.
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British beer festivals
In the UK the Great British Beer Festival held annually in August in London is the largest and most famous beer festival, and is organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). The "GBBF", as it is known, was founded in 1977 and was attended by over 66,000 people in 2006, and 350,000 pints of ale were consumed over the five days of the festival. The CAMRA National Winter Ales Festival, designed to showcase beer styles which may not be readily available when the main summer festival is held, takes place in January at various venues across the country. Other festivals in London, Peterborough, St Albans and Reading, Berkshire, to name a few, are both very large and offer an interesting and distinctive selection of British beers.
Festivals are often organised by CAMRA, by local pubs and occasionally by other groups. CAMRA festivals are run by volunteers under direction of the local CAMRA branch. There is an admission fee which is reduced for CAMRA members. Pub festivals use professional bar staff, and there are usually no entry fees. Beer festivals organised by student real ale societies - some CAMRA-affiliated and some not - have existed for many years, but are currently enjoying something of a boom. These festivals are typically held in students' union premises, and entry is hence sometimes restricted to students and staff, though exceptions may be made for card-carrying CAMRA members. Student beer festivals vary in size but can easily rival local CAMRA events, with beer numbers in the 80-100 cask region. Good examples include Cardiff and Warwick.[1].
The format of British beer festivals tends to follow a set pattern. Casks of ale from many different brewers are placed on stillage behind rows of trestle tables. Staff serve beer directly from the cask, and take payment in the form of cash or via a token system, where sheets of tokens are purchased at the entrance to the venue in bulk. At some festivals the beer is kept cool using wet towels or other insulation. Glasses are distributed at the entrance to the venue, usually for a small deposit although often included in the entrance fee. The glasses usually bear a design specific to the festival and are therefore considered to be collectable. A beer list is usually available, often indicating where in the venue the different casks will be situated. Food is usually available, and entertainments and games such as live music, pub quizzes or tombolas are often organised.
In all British festivals the beer is sold in quantities of half or full pints. From 2006 the GBBF additionally served beer in third of pints.
German beer festivals
The oldest and the largest beer festival in the world is Oktoberfest in Germany. Several other smaller beer festivals are held all over Germany all over the year. The 2nd largest beer festival in Germany and probably in Europe, is the Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart. Its popularity increases and more and more people come from around the world to visit the festival every year. Many other places have beer festivals styled as "Oktoberfests", but taken on its own the name is generally taken to mean for the Munich event.
The second largest genuine Bavarian festival is the Gäubodenvolksfest in Straubing. The festival is similar like Oktoberfest but it has an own history and it is not a copy of the Oktoberfest.
Not called "Oktoberfest", but very similar in character, is the Cannstatter Wasen in Stuttgart which starts one week later and is the second largest fair in the world. Smaller beer festivals similar to the Oktoberfest are common in Germany and take place throughout the year in most bigger German cities. Some of them go on later into the night than the Oktoberfest.
Like the Oktoberfest and the Cannstatter Wasen, most German beer festivals are also carnivals. They are called "Volksfest" (festival for the people).
Other major German cities with large beer festival include Hannover and Bremen's, where the traditional beer festival is known as Freimarkt..
Festivals in other countries
Europe
Asia
- Hong Kong has celebrated the 3-week Oktoberfest since 1991 and it is organized by the Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel (German Beerfest Hong Kong). Many other clubs, hotels and restaurants have an Oktoberfest celebration evening or weekend.
- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam has celebrated Oktoberfest since 1992 and it is held at the Hotel Equatorial.
- In the Philippines, the Oktoberfest is celebrated all throughout the archipelago. The Philippine Oktoberfest starts every first of October and ends thirty days later. The event is marked by concerts and parties usually sponsored by San Miguel Corporation and Asia Brewery, the top two beer companies in the Philippines.
Australia
- Brisbane, Australia has many small celebrations of Oktoberfest. Mainly supported across the local university populations, it has spilled over into local restaurants and pubs, looking to join in the festival.
There is also an annual Oktoberfest Beer Festival at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds in Flemington, Victoria.
South America
- A huge Oktoberfest is held in the Brazilian city of Blumenau (more than 600,000 visitors in 2004), and many other Brazilian cities founded by Germans have their own Oktoberfest, such as Santa Cruz do Sul (more than 500,000 visitors in 2004), Rolândia, São José do Cedro, Seara and Itapiranga.
- In Argentina, a town called Villa General Belgrano in the Córdoba Province has an Oktoberfest that is well-known and the biggest in the country.
North America
- The largest Oktoberfest outside Germany is Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest, held in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, around the time of Canadian Thanksgiving; the twin cities have a large ethnic German population.
- Also in Canada is the Toronto's Festival of Beer held in August in the city's historic Fort York. This is a relatively young festival but has grown into a major events for thousands of visitors from across southern Ontario. (http://www.beerfestival.ca/)
- Montreal's Mondial de la Bière is the biggest beer festival in Quebec.[2]
- In Mexico, in the cities of Puebla, Mexico City, Mazatlan and Tapachula Oktoberfest is celebrated by the descendants of German immigrants in these cities. The largest ones are held in Puebla and Mexico City where the German community is very important and one can hear German music and be delighted by German food and folk dresses.
- The largest and most famous beer festival in the United States is the Great American Beer Festival.
- Another large event in the US is in Cincinnati, Ohio; over 500,000 people visited during the 2002 Oktoberfest-Zinzinnati.
- The pseudo-Bavarian village of Leavenworth, WA in the US holds Oktoberfest during the first two weeks in October yearly.
See also
- Great British Beer Festival
- National Winter Ales Festival
- Oktoberfest
- Cannstatter Wasen
- Volksfest
- Great American Beer Festival
External links
- BeerAdvocate Beer Festivals
- BeerAdvocate Calendar
- Octoberfest
- Great British Beer Festival
- Beer Festivals calendar
- Great American Beer Festival
- Brewtopia
Categories
Beer festivals