CAMRA’s flagship festival to return next summer
Set to take place from 5-9 August 2025, the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) will make its return at the NEC in Birmingham, the first time the event has been held in the West Midlands since 1983.
Now in its 47th year, the festival will celebrate the best of UK brewing and beyond, with a huge range of different beers and bars dedicated to real cider and perry, and cocktails under one roof.
Partners for the upcoming event include Thornbridge Brewery, Greene King, Woodforde’s, Ossett Brewery, Harvey’s, Siren Craft Brewery, JD Wetherspoon and Theakston plus more.
Great celebration
CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain 2025 competition will also return next year with the overall winners announced on the first day of the event. The beers in each winning category will also be available to try during the festival.
Festival Organiser Adam Gent said: “The return of the Great British Beer Festival is a cause for great celebration.
“I cannot wait to welcome beer and cider lovers from across the UK, and indeed the world, to the NEC Birmingham, where the festival promises to be better than ever before.
“Come and experience our incredible selection of the finest beers, ciders and perries, along with delicious food.”
This year’s event was cancelled due to issues with the chosen venue, meanwhile CAMRA’s Winter GBBF took place in February.
Perfect storm
Sarah Hughes Brewery’s Snowflake took the title of Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2024, described as a “beautiful amber barley wine” with “fruity and slightly spiced notes”.
Earlier this week, the consumer organisation released its Good Beer Guide 2025, which highlighted the ongoing struggles faced by breweries with many forced to shut for good, including Champion Beer of Britain 2023 winners Elland Brewery.
CAMRA said “a perfect storm of a big tax burden, few viable routes to market and stubbornly high energy bills” were behind the number of closures.
It added: “These breweries are the champions of innovation, quality and choice in the UK beer market, but they struggle to get their beers behind bars due to the stranglehold that global producers and drinks distribution companies have on the market.”
