Beer festival organisers announce a return to Manchester Central in 2019
Beer lovers flocked to the city last month when the Manchester Beer and Cider Festival took over Manchester Central’s great hall.
Organised by the combined expertise of the nine Greater Manchester branches of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), a team of 330 volunteers built the festival in four days, served a record number of drinkers in three days and dismantled the whole event in just over a day. Their efforts were recorded on a time-lapse video, now on the festival’s YouTube channel.
Although the attendance of 14,675 was just shy of 2016’s 14,804, the festival opened to the public a day less than in 2016. Organisers were delighted with the public response which reinforced the festival’s position as the biggest beer and cider festival in the North.
And drinkers didn’t just turn up. Almost every one of the 22 bars recorded an increase in consumption with a staggering 41,000 pints of cask ale supped. In line with its reputation for innovation, the festival showcased a wide range of high quality beers dispensed by keg or key-keg and 7,730 pints were enjoyed by visitors. Records tumbled at the cider and perry bar with 4,300 pints consumed, an increase of 8% from the previous year. The main international bar serving German, Czech Republic and Belgian beers shifted almost 2,100 litres (3,560 pints). (more…)
