National Winter Ales Festival

The National Winter Ales Festival (NWAF) is organised annually by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). From 2018 it was marketed as Great British Beer Festival Winter. The event showcases real ales available in the UK in the winter months, especially strong ales, stouts and porters. It was first held in 1997, alongside the Great British Beer Festival. Great British Beer Festival Winter is also home to the Champion Winter Beer of Britain awards.

The 2008 National Winter Ales Festival at New Century Hall, Manchester
The 2011 National Winter Ales Festival at The Venue, Manchester

Host city and date

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The festival is generally held in January or February of each year; however there were two festivals in 1997, one at each end of the year. The first one gave the awards for 1996/7 and the second for 1997/8; there was no festival in 1998.

While the summer event has been exclusive to London since 1991, the Great British Beer Festival Winter moves between host cities, allocated on 3-year cycle. Branches of CAMRA around the United Kingdom bid for the event. Derby was the host city for 2014 to 2016 where the event was held at the Roundhouse. The final Derby festival drew 13,832 attendees, the largest in the event's history.[1] They drank a combined 57,000 pints of the 470 beers on offer.[1]

Norwich and Norfolk CAMRA hosted the event in 2017, 2018 and 2019, at The Halls, a medieval complex in Norwich consisting of St Andrew's Hall and Blackfriars' Hall.

Venues

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Year Location Notes Ref.
1997 Old Fruit Market, Glasgow
1999–2002 Upper Campfield Market, Manchester
2003–2004 Old Town Hall, Burton-on-Trent
2005–2009 New Century Hall, Manchester
2010–2013 Sheridan Suite, Manchester
2014–2016 The Roundhouse, Derby
2017–2019 The Halls, Norwich
2020–2022 The New Bingley Hall, Birmingham 2021 and 2022 events cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2023–2024 Burton Town Hall, Burton-on-Trent Incorporated at Burton Beer & Cider Festival [2]
2025 Magna Science Adventure Centre Rotherham

References

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  1. ^ a b "National Winter Ales Festival: Visitor record broken and 57,000 pints drunk as festival leaves Derby on a high". Derby Telegraph. 2016-02-21.
  2. ^ "42nd Burton Beer & Cider Festival (2024)". whatpub.com. CAMRA. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
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