Hello everybody; long time no speak. Well, it hasn’t been that long, has it? But we missed you and it’s time to get reacquainted.
As you should know by now, Bristol Beer Week 2016 will take place from Saturday 27th August until Friday 2nd September. It’s a proper week this time and a bit earlier than usual. The reason for that will become apparent shortly.
My aim for Bristol Beer Week has always been to grow every year, steadily becoming a nationally and internationally acclaimed event. I think we have achieved that year-on-year since 2013. However, my sense last year was that we were plateauing; reaching a ceiling created by our limited resources. So the question I’ve been musing on is ‘How can we take a step forwards?’.
Clearly, the main focus of Bristol Beer Week is the wonderful Bristol breweries, pubs, bars, restaurants and tap houses. But some of the most successful events have included breweries from further afield. Bristol is fiercely independent, but never stubbornly insular; so this makes perfect sense.
For a couple of years now, I’ve felt that Bristol Beer Week would benefit from a big event that has more of a festival feel to it, incorporating the best local, national and international beers available. And thanks to the guys from London Craft Beer Festival, that is what we will have this year.
So, for those that don’t know, London Craft Beer Festival runs in the Oval Space (an iconic East London venue). It features the very best breweries from the UK and beyond, a load of great street food and some remarkably big music acts. Each brewery has its own bar and your entry ticket entitles you to a branded glass and unlimited ‘tasters’ of any beers available, for as long as they’re pouring.
For the last two years, London Craft Beer Festival has been the perfect closing event for London Beer City (a London beer week, run by beer writer and enthusiast Will Hawkes) and this year I am incredibly pleased to say that Bristol Craft Beer Festivalwill be the closing event to Bristol Beer Week.
Greg, Dan and Celine are incredibly passionate about putting on an awesome event that’s about beer, food, music and having a great time. It’s not an industry pitch and you won’t find bigger brewers buying up prime space on the festival floor. I am certain that the festival will be a great addition to our week and help us take a huge leap forwards.
Bristol Craft Beer Festival will take place at Motion on Friday 2nd September and Saturday 3rd September. It will showcase Bristol’s best breweries, alongside the finest beer that the UK, Europe and the US has to offer. Early bird tickets are available now for £30, and we hope to have a few collaborative ticket promotions along the way.
To support the ‘new era’ of Bristol Beer Week, we’re currently undergoing a ‘brand refresh’, which includes a brand new website, which we hope to launch next month. We’ll also be running a crowd funding campaign to generate some much-needed financial resources, so keep an eye out for that in due course.
We hope that everyone is as excited about Bristol Beer Week 2016 and Bristol Craft Beer Festival as we are. Bring it on!