Belfast Beer Festival

Barbara Collins

Craft breweries are springing up all over the place these days. This Bank Holiday weekend 22-23 May the historic Titanic Drawing Offices will be the venue for a festival to celebrate the best in Northern Ireland and beyond.

Michael Kerr is part of the team of four behind ABV Fest 15. He owns the Belfast-based Boundary Brewing Co-Operative.

“The local beer scene is rapidly changing...for the better! People want more than just a pint. They want quality and choice. Local pubs and off-licences are increasing the range of beer they offer. The number of independent breweries here has more than tripled in a decade.

“We believe that a growing local beer scene needs an innovative beer festival. That's how ABV Fest came to be. We wanted to create a space where the vast range of beer styles being brewed right now could be showcased.”

Beer and cider producers from Ireland and the UK will be attending. The festival will go on for three days with a range of special tastings planned.

“The speed at which tickets have been selling tells us something. Belfast has been crying out for a different kind of beer festival; a festival where not drinking the same thing twice is to be encouraged. It will be a festival where great beers can be sipped, shared, talked about and debated in the company of some of those who create them.”

Admission: £12 per session / £30 weekend pass available at www.abvfest.com • Full beer list and prices to be announced online • Follow @abvfest for the latest news

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Barbara Collins is a BBC journalist and freelance food, travel and agricultural writer. She contributes regularly to Countryfile magazine, the Farmers Guardian, the Irish News, FFT and the Irish Mail on Sunday. She was Chief Food Writer for Flavour magazine. She is a member of both the UK and Irish Food Writers Guilds and splits her time between Belfast and Galway. Barbara also does menu consultancy and copywriting.

@thegoodchinaset