Laura Hadland

Beer and cider festivals have been mainstays of the British drinking calendar for more than 50 years, and have played a huge role in shaping the beer landscape of the UK, in all its richness and diversity. This book, by award-winning beer writer Laura Hadland, is an homage to these events, and a show of appreciation to all of the people who make them happen. So, grab a glass, buy some tokens and join us on a leisurely stroll around British and Irish beer festivals past and present. We’ll take in the origins of the beer festival in these islands, tell you how a beer festival operates, and, more importantly, who runs it, be they volunteers, producers or paid staff. It is their stories that bring this book to life.

When four young friends went on a drinking holiday to Ireland in March 1971, they had no idea that their idle notion of starting a campaign to push for better beer choice would capture the public mood and grow into Europe's biggest single-issue consumer movement. In its landmark 50th year, CAMRA celebrates how a group of beer lovers turned an industry on its head, saved this country's unique beer style, for and became the voice of the beer, cider and perry consumer.