10th Anniversary Of The Festival

We are less than a month away from the 2014 Calgary International Beer Festival, a celebration of all things beer in the Calgary and surrounding area. If you attended last year, you’ll know how busy and exciting the festivities were. The Calgary International Beer Festival will take place on May 2-3, 2014 in halls “C”, “D,” and “E” of the BMO Centre at Stampede Park.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the festival, and as in years prior, the focus is on craft beer in Alberta. To keep a local flavour for the show, All Calgary-based breweries, as well as some from outlying areas will be in attendance for patrons to talk to, and have the opportunity to try some of their wonderful variety of beers. In addition to the local scene, the Calgary International Beer Festival will take festival goers around the world with over 700 different types of beer from every corner of the globe. That’s a lot of beer. To accommodate with demand, the group at Alberta Beer Festivals has secured 50,000 more square feet of booth space over previous years, totalling over 150,000 square feet. Those numbers include space for breweries, entertainment staging featuring local acts, and local restaurants, as well as other businesses tied into the beer industry.

New this year will be the addition of the Social Media Lounge to the Calgary International Beer Festival, which will give patrons the ability to connect with each other using the hashtag #YYCBeerfest. It also allows event organizers and participants to communicate with their audience directly by giving everyone a look behind the scenes, or to answer any questions during key moments of the festival. Details on the Social Media Lounge are still being finalized, and once everything is in place, Alberta Beer Festivals will announce the plan through their  online newsletter. Fans of Alberta Craft Beer can register to receive bimonthly updates on the festival website, found at http://www.calgarybeerfest.com/.

Beer Seminars and Cooking with Beer Seminars have always been a highlight of the festival events. This year is no exception. the Beer Seminars give beer lovers insight into the beers they love from the people who make it. Plus, you even get a sample of the good stuff! In the Cooking with Beer Seminars, you learn how to make quick, easy meals with your favourite beverage, and, you guessed it … You get to try what’s been prepared!

Alberta Beer Festivals recognized long ago that Beer Geeks are a special breed. That’s why the Calgary International Beer Festival is a great place to geek out on beer. Beer Geeks get special treatment for what ales them (see what I did there?). They get early entrance through the festival gates, a special Beer Geek Seminar, hosted by Mill Street Brewery.

Only a limited quantity of tickets will be available at the door of the BMO Centre at Stampede Park. An extremely easy way to to avoid being disappointed at the door is to buy tickets (and sample tokens, among other goodies) online at http://calgarybeerfest.eventswoop.com

We thrive on feedback from the local craft beer community.  Drop a comment & let us know what you’re most excited about for this year’s festival.