Manchester Beer and Cider Festival

Manchester Beer and Cider Festival 2016 will be at the amazing venue of Manchester Central.  It's been a long haul but after many months of searching, negotiating, rejecting and dismissing, Greater Manchester CAMRA Branches have finally come back to our first choice venue for Manchester Beer and Cider Festival.  Since (at the insistence of the main tenants Team GB) we were kicked out of the Velodrome, we have been looking for a new venue.  One of the things that many people, even beer festival goers, just don't understand is how difficult it is to find a large venue in a big city at the time, duration of hire that we need and at a price that we can afford.  Manchester Central has always been where we wanted to be. Formerly known as GMex, this former railway station, now a huge conference and exhibition centre, has proved elusive, but thanks to some hard negotiations and the fantastic flexibility shown by the venue, agreement has been reached.

Now the hard work will really begin as we have a huge space to fill. It's all on one level, bang in the centre of town with bus, tram and rail links right beside it. We can drive our kit straight in, we will have an amazing number of chairs and tables and of course a fantastic selection of beer. I'm not giving away any secrets (I hope) in saying that we are aiming to take full advantage of the recent CAMRA AGM decision on keykeg which allows us to serve cask conditioned beer from those containers. Watch out for a lot of innovation and a lot of new breweries.  You really must be there.

So here's the official press release, but watch out for more info here and on our website

Six months of meetings and negotiations has seen the organisers secure their first choice venue which will allow them to retain all the features which attracted over 11,000 drinkers to the 2015 festival and is expected to attract even more at its new central home. The festival will feature a massive choice of over 500 beers, ciders and perries across a range of bars. Work is already under way on selecting the beers with established favourites including Marble Beers, Hawkshead Brewery and Brightside Beers already on board alongside relative newcomers to the local beer scene including Cryptic Ales and Seven Brothers.

 Festival Organiser Graham Donning said "We are very excited to be bringing the festival right into the heart of the city. With direct access from the newly improved Deansgate-Castlefield Metrolink station and Deansgate rail station, we couldn't have a better location for our customers who flock from across the region and indeed from all over the country to attend." When asked about the process of selecting a new venue he added "The last few months have been very busy behind the scenes as we sought the perfect venue. Myself and my colleagues have visited numerous venues across the city and held countless meetings to discuss available dates, logistics, budgets and all the other dull details which the drinkers never see. We are delighted that we have been able to secure an agreement with what was our first choice venue. "

Although only three years old, the Manchester Beer & Cider Festival has established itself as one of the top beer festivals in the UK, with one of the largest ranges of beers and cider. Up to 13,000 visitors are expected to travel from all over the country and beyond to attend the festival which compliments Manchester's growing international reputation as a centre for craft beer. Hundreds of volunteers will spend four days setting up what will become Manchester's largest pub serving over 50,000 pints over the four day event.

 Tickets for the event are scheduled to go on sale on Tuesday 1st September via the festival website at www.mancbeerfest.uk

Oh and I'm Deputy Organiser again, so it's bound to be good. Get the dates in your diaries now and spread the word please. 

Prices will be very reasonable compared to privately run festivalS and we will have a gobsmacking choice of beer, cider and perry.  The Foreign Beer Bars, not mentioned above will be brilliant. Just come along and see, travel to the venue is easy. .