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BRITISH BEER FESTIVALS beer festival]] In the UK the Great British Beer Festival held annually in August in London is the largest and most famous beer festival, and is organised by the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA). The "GBBF", as it is known, was founded in 1977 and was attended by over 66,000 people in 2006, and 350,000 pints of ale were consumed over the five days of the festival. The CAMRA National Winter Ales Festival , designed to showcase beer styles which may not be readily available when the main summer festival is held, takes place in January at various venues across the country. Other festivals in London , Nottingham , Peterborough , St Albans and Reading, Berkshire , to name a few, are both very large and offer an interesting and distinctive selection of British beers. Festivals are often organised by CAMRA, by local pubs and occasionally by other groups. CAMRA festivals are run by volunteers under direction of the local CAMRA branch. There is an admission fee which is reduced for CAMRA members. Pub festivals use professional bar staff, and there are usually no entry fees. Beer festivals organised by student real ale societies - some CAMRA-affiliated and some not - have existed for many years, but are currently enjoying something of a boom. These festivals are typically held in students' Union premises, and entry is hence sometimes restricted to students and staff, though exceptions may be made for card-carrying CAMRA members. Student beer festivals vary in size but can easily rival local CAMRA events, with beer numbers in the 80-100 cask region. Good examples include Cardiff and Warwick. {Link without Title} . The format of British beer festivals tends to follow a set pattern. Casks of ale from many different brewers are placed on Stillage behind rows of trestle tables. Staff serve beer directly from the cask, and take payment in the form of cash or via a token system, where sheets of tokens are purchased at the entrance to the venue in bulk. Consideration must be given to cooling; this is commonly achieved using wet sacking or blankets for Evaporative Cooling , though refrigerated cooling saddles and coils are increasingly being used. Some festivals in the winter months simply keep the whole venue, or a smaller tap room, at cellar temperature by leaving doors and windows open. Glasses are distributed at the entrance to the venue, usually for a small deposit although often included in the entrance fee. The glasses usually bear a design specific to the festival and are therefore considered to be collectable. A beer list is usually available, often indicating where in the venue the different casks will be situated. Food is usually available, and entertainments and games such as Live Music , Pub Quizzes or Tombola s are often organised. In all British festivals the beer is sold in quantities of half or full Pint s. From 2006 the GBBF additionally served beer in " Nip s" (one-third of a pint), for the benefit of those who wish to sample many beers wthout consuming excessive amounts of alcohol. GERMAN BEER FESTIVALS - the world's largest beer festival]] The largest beer festival in the world is Oktoberfest in Germany . Several other smaller beer festivals are held all over Germany all over the year. The 2nd largest beer festival in Germany and probably in Europe, is the Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart . Its popularity increases and more and more people come from around the world to visit the festival every year. Many other places have beer festivals styled as "Oktoberfests", but taken on its own the name is generally taken to mean for the Munich event. The second largest genuine Bavarian festival is the Gäubodenvolksfest in Straubing . The festival is similar like Oktoberfest but it has an own history and it is not a copy of the Oktoberfest. Not called "Oktoberfest", but very similar in character, is the Cannstatter Wasen in Stuttgart which starts one week later and is the second largest fair in the world. Smaller beer festivals similar to the Oktoberfest are common in Germany and take place throughout the year in most bigger German cities. Some of them go on later into the night than the Oktoberfest. Like the Oktoberfest and the Cannstatter Wasen, most German beer festivals are also Carnival s. They are called "Volksfest" (festival for the people). Other major German cities that host large beer festivals include Hannover and Bremen's , where the traditional beer festival is known as Freimarkt . FESTIVALS IN OTHER COUNTRIES Europe
Asia
Australia
There previously was an annual Oktoberfest Beer Festival at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds in Flemington, Victoria , it has not run for two years. New Zealand
South America
North America
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