Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival to return in October at new venue with safety measures in place

Edinburgh Craft Beer festival has announced new October dates for this year’s event which will be held at a new outdoor venue – Outside @ The Corn Exchange.

Adhering to Scottish government guidelines, the organisers We Are Beer made the decision to move the festival from its original home at The Biscuit Factory to The Corn Exchange’s outside area to ensure a safe, socially distanced festival.

Taking place from Friday 9 until Saturday 10 October, and hopes to bring Edinburgh together to celebrate the flourishing craft beer scene in Scotland with a strong focus on local beers: Fierce, Vault City, 71 Brewing, and new kid on the block, Newbarns.

Beers from some of the world’s most cutting-edge breweries will be shipped over by brewers unable to travel abroad including Equilibrium (NYC), which will be poured for thirsty revellers over the two-day festival.

Some of the hottest new UK breweries will be showcasing their products at the festival, which celebrates the best beer in all its forms: from sour beers and IPA’s to low ABV beers.

Whilst the organisers are excited to be bringing the festival to the city it is the safety of ticket holders and vendors that is of the upmost priority. The organisers have been working hard to secure a venue that will allow them to host a fantastic festival with strict health and safety measures in place including increased PPE at service areas, updating queuing and directional signage for visitors, app-based registration to comply with track and trace, rigorous cleaning and sanitising throughout and in between sessions, increased entry and exit points, toilets as well as admittance by advance tickets only and no cash payments.

Greg Wells, founder of Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival said: “Although we are sad not to be returning to the Biscuit Factory this year, we had to make the decision to move to a much bigger outdoor venue to make sure we could accommodate festivalgoers while also adhering to social distancing guidelines.

“We have been working with Edinburgh Council to make sure that the festival ticks all the boxes when it comes to the safety of people attending and those working at the festival.

The festival also promises to surprise and delight foodies with some of Scotland’s top restaurants and street food vendors serving up a tantalising array of culinary treats. Already confirmed is Edinburgh’s celebrated Harajuku Kitchen, serving up its authentic Japanese gyoza and Bross Bagels which will have a range of its Montreal style bagels available.

Greg added: “It was really gut wrenching when we had to cancel the festival back in March but we are ecstatic to be able to go ahead with the festival and support all of the fantastic local breweries and food vendors. Although the festival we will a little different this year, it will still be a cracking weekend and something to look forward too.”

Tickets are priced from £46 and include entry, samples of beers from the breweries, a special festival beer glass, access to the festival’s pop-up kitchens and music acts.

More breweries and food vendors will be announced at a later date. If for any reason a second lockdown is implemented and the festival is cancelled until 2021, tickets will automatically roll onto the 2021 or 2022 event.

Tickets are available to purchase at edinburghcraftbeerfestival.co.uk/tickets/