Beer Festivals

Southern Hampshire CAMRA has been running Southampton Beer Festival in its current format since 1997. The first 20 events were at Southampton Guildhall and in 2017 Southampton Beer Festival moved to St Mary's Stadium.

In 2010 we added to this by organising an Autumn Festival, in Woolston, appropriately called Woolston Beer Festival. We repeated this the next year and it has become annual event.

In 2011 we held Winchester Real Ale and Cider Festival at the end of March, returning a CAMRA beer festival to Winchester Guildhall after a gap of 28 years. This was another big success and remained so up until 2020 when it was the last CAMRA beer festival before the Covid lockdown. Since then we have been unable to return to the Guildhall but 2024 is looking good for a new venue 7th & 8th June, more details soon.

All the staff at our beer festivals are volunteers. Many members of Southern Hampshire CAMRA also volunteer their time to work at the Great British Beer Festival each year.

Some of our aims in running beer festivals are:

  • To serve customers quality cask conditioned real ale.
  • To promote real ale to the local community, therefore increasing its popularity.
  • To promote membership of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.

If you'd like us to email you and let you know when we're holding beer festivals then join our "beerfests" mailing list and we'll keep you informed!

Listing policy

For CAMRA beer festivals we list those within 50 miles of our branch area. Please check the individual websites for details. We to research non-CAMRA festivals as best we can and list those within 25 miles of our branch area. Inevitably we will miss a few, some aren't well publicized, so if you know of more please drop us an email and let us know. In any case you should check with the venue for any last minute changes before attending.

CAMRA Beer Festivals

  • North Sussex Equinox Beer & Cider Festival – 22nd & 23rd March 2024
    Drill Hall, Denne Road, Horsham RH12 1JF
    Friday 18:00 – 22:00, Saturday 11:30 – 16:30 & 18:30 – 22:00. Tickets £8 Friday, £10 Saturday lunchtime & £6 Saturday evening. Run by CAMRA North Sussex Branch.
     
  • 46th Farnham Beerex – 18th, 19th & 20th April 2024
    Farnham Maltings, Bridge Square, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7QR
    Jointly run by Farnham Lions Club, Farnham Maltings, CAMRA Surrey/Hants Borders Branch, and a number of enthusiastic volunteers, and famously running for 46 years in the same venue. Expect around 60 real ales and 30 ciders & perries. Food and entertainment each session. Open Thursday evening 18:00 – 23:00, and Friday & Saturday 11:00 – 15:00 & 18:00 – 23:00. Tickets prices TBA; they should be on sale around 8th December.
     

For CAMRA festivals over the whole of the UK see the main CAMRA website
 

Non-CAMRA Beer Festivals

Many beer festivals take place in our branch area, or nearby, that are not CAMRA beer festivals. Despite being unable to endorse these events, we believe that any beer festival that sells quality cask-conditioned real ales should be supported (see you there!). The information given here is purely for the benefit of readers, and is accurate to the best of our knowledge.
To get your beer festival listed here send an email to beerfestivals@shantscamra.org.uk

    Fri 29/03/2024 Festival of Touch Rugby and Real Ales
Ellingham and Ringwood RFC, Parsonage Barn Lane, Ringwood BH24 1PZ
One of Ringwood's largest annual events, expect 40 casks of beer and 35 different ciders, and the entertainment is 24 teams playing with one coming out victorious. The club;s website is www.errfc.com
    Fri 29/03/2024
       – Sat 30/03/2024
Wareham Easter Beerex 2024
Wareham Masonic Hall, Howards Lane, Wareham, Dorset BH20 4HU
11:00 – 15:00 & 19:00 – 23:00 both days. Around 48 real ales & cider. Tickets £10 per session plus £1.55 fees on-line or from local outlets. More information from beerex.org.uk or their Facebook page www.facebook.com/WarehamEasterBeerex
    Fri 05/04/2024
       – Sat 06/04/2024
Alton Beer Festival
Alton College, Old Odiham Road, Alton GU34 2LX
37th beer festival. Two sessions, Friday 19:00 – 23:00, and Saturday 11:00 – 18:00. Tickets £10, available on-line or from selected outlets. On door price £12. Help keep the festival green by bringing your own glass. See www.altonbeerfestival.org.uk for all details.
   

If you know of any more non-CAMRA beer festivals in our branch area then please email the details to us.