Great British Beer Festival

It's far more than just British!

The 2010 Great British Festival expects to break the record number of 64,000 beer lovers who packed London's Earls Court last August as the real ale boom shows no signs of abating. This year's festival, which runs from 3-7 August, will appeal to all beer lovers with a range that goes far beyond these shores. As well as more than 500 cask beers, plus 100 ciders and perries, from the British Isles, there will be beers from Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany and the United States.

To cater for the demand from British consumers for American craft beers, the Campaign for Real Ale, the organisers of the festival, have ordered 50% more beer from the U.S.

There will be brewery bars manned by major producers of cask beer, including Brains, Fuller's, Greene King, Liberation - formally Jersey Brewery -- Marston's, Theakston, Thornbridge, Shepherd Neame and SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers.

Shepherd Neame will follow their "From Nature to Glass" exhibition last year with an educational and interactive event that will have a hop theme. Marston's will exhibit their new Fast Cask system that will enable real ale to be sold for the first time in pubs and bars that lack traditional cellar space.

J D Wetherspoon will sponsor a bar called Young and Upcoming Breweries - the participants are a closely-guarded secret. Plant Rock radio station will sponsor the entertainment and will give away five Pure Classic radios as part of a competition. Travelodge will continue their support for the Champion Bottled Beer of Britain competition after stocking last year's winner, Titanic Stout, in their hotels.

Budweiser Budvar will officially sponsor the Czech and German section of the Foreign Beer Bar while Ales by Mail will back the Real Ale in a Bottle Bar. There will be a programme of tutored beer tastings led by Roger Protz, Melissa Cole, Jeff Evans and Christine Cryne. There will be live music every day, including Chaminade String Quartet Tuesday evening; Band of Two Wednesday afternoon; Hank Wangford and the Lost Cowboys Wednesday evening; Fret and Fiddle Thursday afternoon; The Blockheads Thursday evening; Gary Fletcher Band, Friday afternoon; and Hamsters Friday evening. The festival will kick off on Tuesday afternoon, 3 August, with the announcement of the Champion Beer of Britain (CBoB) competition. Judges will spend the morning tasting beers in categories ranging from Mild to Strong Bitters. Right, Roger Protz announces the winners at the 2009 Festival.

Timetable

Tickets

Keep up to date with the official Festival Twitter at www.twitter.com/gbbf and CAMRA'S designated online beer tasting feed "RealAleLive" at www.twitter.com/realalelive.

For full details of the festival go to www.gbbf/org.uk.