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The Great British Beer Festival or GBBF as it is most commonly abbreviated is a beer festival held on an annual basis in the UK. It was originally organized and established by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, in an effort to bring more awareness to numerous cask ales and other alcoholic beverages both in the UK and internationally. The GBBF is also the home of Champion Beer of Britain awards. Originally established in 1977, the festival is usually held in early August (3rd through the 7th of August, 2010) in Earl’s Court, London.

In addition to the Great British Beer Festival, there is a “sister” festival which is held every January and is called the National Winter Ales Festival. The primary difference is that this festival focuses on specific styles of beer such as Porters and Stouts. Additionally and for all intensive purposes, the GBBF is oftentimes referred to as the “biggest pub in the world.” There are some 1,000 individuals who work, all of whom work the festival on a voluntary basis faithfully and without reserve.

There are roughly 450 beers from the UK featured at this event and approximately 200 international beers brewed in countries such as Belgium, Germany, and the United States. You can also sample some varieties of British cider and Perry at the Great British Beer Festival. As was mentioned above, the GBBF occurs the first week every August, starting on Tuesday and ending Saturday.

However, Tuesday afternoons are reserved for the media and other industry as well as being the time when the Champion Beer of Britain award winners are announced in the middle of the afternoon. From the evening on Tuesday until the end of the Great British Beer Festival, during the afternoon and evening sessions, the general public has free reign. The 2006 GBBF set attendance records when over 66,000 people came to the festival.

Interestingly enough, there were over 350,000 pints of beer consumed that year which equates to about a pint of beer being consumed every half second that the festival was opened. Ticket sales had increased over 40% over the prior year which was attributed to Marc Holmes, the GBBF’s organizer who moved the venue to Earl’s Court from Olympia. The new venue was not just larger than Olympia, it was much more accessible.

The first two years of the Great British Beer Festival (1977-79) it was held at Alexandra Palace, renowned for being North London’s public center for education, entertainment, and recreation venues. Since that point in the festival’s history, it has relocated 9 different times. Additionally, there was no festival held in 2004 and at the time this content was being written, it is unclear why. Suffice it to say, it is still one of the UK’s biggest annual events and well worth attending when visiting the London area.

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Photo by deege@fermentarium.com.