The Ballarat Beer Festival is gearing up for its biggest event yet, when it kicks off next month to celebrate local producers as well as brewers.
The festival begins on Friday, 17 February with a five-course degustation dinner, before the main festival day on Saturday, 18 February, with over 4000 craft beer enthusiasts expected to descend on to Ballarat’s North Gardens.
The festival will include beer education classes, blind tastings, trivia games, the popular brewers sack race and plenty more to keep punters busy, topped off with a great line up of local and Australian bands and an extended range of street food options.
Organiser Ric Dexter said: “Celebrating and exclusively supporting local and independent breweries and producers is part of our festival’s ethos – particularly after a tough few years for local businesses. We are proud to be one of the few remaining festivals to commit to a purely independent showcase.”
The 2023 Ballarat Beer Festival line-up includes Blackman’s Brewery, Brewmanity, Brick Lane, Bright Brewery, Coopers, Daylesford Cider, Dollar Bill Brewing, Eddies Cider, Fox Friday Brewing, Fury and Son, Good Land Brewing, Green Gully Brewing, Harcourt Valley, Hawkers, Hepburn Springs Brewing Co, Howler, KAIJU!, Kilderkin Distillery, Local Brewing Co, Molly Rose, Mountain Culture Beer, Noodledoof, Prancing Pony, Red Duck, Shedshaker Brewing, Stomping Ground, Subtle Tea, Taltarni Vineyards, The Boys Brewing, The Cheeky Pint, The Gospel Whiskey, Tin Shed Cider, Tiny Fish Brew Co, Wild Life Brewing Co., with more to be announced.
Those keen to make a weekend of it can grab tickets to Friday nights Degustation Dinner which pairs craft beer and wine to each course, and entertainment, proudly supporting Variety – the Children’s Charity with the presentation of a regional grant to support kids living with disability, disadvantage and illness on the night.
Tickets start at $45 with VIP packages available from $100.