Perhaps it’s only right that, as we approach the time of year when people tend to overindulge, we find ourselves amid a glut of festive occasions. Or festivals to be precise. We’ve got three beer weeks and a handful of one-day festivals already under our collective belts for November and more to come before the month is out, while fresh news keeps coming our way.
We’ve been working on a feature looking at the explosion of craft beer festivals over the past few weeks and should be ready to publish soon. But in the meantime, the latest to land in our inbox is news of the third South West Craft Beer Festival, which is moving sites when it returns to the Margaret River region on February 22 and 23.
The 2014 festival moves from the 3 Oceans Winery to Old Broadwater Farm in Busselton, which the promoters tell us “will provide greater spacer for more guests, food, fun, entertainment, and of course, beer!”
Once again, the focus will be on showcasing the craft breweries that call the region home alongside an array of local produce. New to 2014 will be a Meet the Brewer session and a judged single batch beer competition. We’ll bring you more information as and when we have it.
Before that, however, Victorians can look forward to another one-dayer in the north. Ales on the Ovens comes to Wangaratta Showgrounds on December 7 and features a lineup of microbreweries, cider producers and winemakers. The brewers are:
- Kooinda
- Tooborac Hotel & Brewery
- Murray’s
- Cavalier
- Black Dog Brewery
- Bridge Road
- Bright Brewery
- Little Creatures
- Bellarine Brewing Company
- Grand Ridge
- Prickly Moses
- Sweetwater Brewing Company
- Beer Gypsies
- True South Brewery
- Kwencher
- King Valley Brewing Co
Full price adults tickets cost $40pp and can be purchased here. Apologies for the late notice, but no one from the festival has made contact with us so it took a brewer and beer lover from the region to bring it to our attention.
That’s far from it for the coming months, however, with another one-day festival seeking expressions of interest from brewers yesterday. Look out for news on that event as soon as the organisers go public.
