A POPULAR UK festival has been officially axed after suffering “severe financial challenges” in recent years.
The Great British Beer Festival will not take place in 2026 despite thousands of jolly revellers flocking to Birmingham last month.
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Chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale, Ash Corbett-Collins, said the five-day event had failed to generate sufficient revenue to cover its costs.
He also announced the winter edition of the festival – aptly named the Great British Winter Beer Festival – will be cancelled indefinitely.
Mr Corbett-Collins said the company has faced severe financial challenges since the coronavirus pandemic.
He labelled the losses from the festivals as “unsustainable”.
In a statement he said: “The Great British Beer Festival and its Winter counterpart did not attract enough visitors to cover the cost of holding them, resulting in a substantial loss.
“Our membership figures, like many other organisations, are simply not growing. The hard truth is we are unlikely to return to pre-2020 levels.
“Our festivals are getting more expensive to hold, with fewer affordable venues.
“The cost of running a membership organisation and business is also increasing.
“As a result, we will not be holding either of our Great British Beer Festivals in 2026.
“In the simplest of terms, we did not get enough people through the doors to cover costs such as hiring the venue, accommodation for volunteers and buying beer, cider and perry.”
The summer event has been running since 1977 and was always held in London up until last year when it was moved to Birmingham.
It has only ever been cancelled before in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, as well as in 1984.
It usually takes place in the first week of August, and is one of the biggest beer events in the country, attracting as many as 60,000 people every year.
Elsewhere, other beer festivals are thriving with one having a choice of over 270 tipples inside a Victorian train station.
Spa Valley Railway Real Ale and Cider Festival located in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, will be returning for its 14th year with a vast variety of ales and ciders for festivalgoers to enjoy.
In total, visitors have a choice of over 200 ales from 50 breweries, which includes more than 30 Kent Green Hop beers.
There are also 14 keg selections and around 70 ciders.
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