CAMRA's flagship beer festival, championing real ale and traditional cask beer at a major London venue each August.
Organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) since 1975, the Great British Beer Festival has become the UK's most significant showcase for cask and real ale. Each August, a major London venue fills with hundreds of beers from breweries across Britain, alongside ciders, perries and a growing selection of international beers.
The festival has long served a specific mission: championing traditional cask-conditioned beer at a time when the format was under genuine commercial pressure from keg and mass-produced lager. That advocacy role remains central to the event, alongside its more straightforward function as one of the best places in the country to try a genuinely wide cross-section of British brewing.
Beer competitions run throughout, culminating in the Champion Beer of Britain award — one of the most respected accolades in British brewing, and a genuine mark of distinction for the winning brewery.