Our festival story

From the Quayside to campus

1. 1976 · The Guildhall

   A first gathering on the Quayside

   The first festival took place on 26–27 November 1976: 25 ales from 13 breweries, with admission costing 30p.

2. 1980 · Newcastle 900

   Part of the city’s celebrations

   The fourth festival joined Newcastle’s 900th-anniversary celebrations, offering 60 beers from 30 breweries at the Guildhall.

3. 1989 · Newcastle University

   A new home at the students’ union

   The 13th festival moved to Newcastle University Students’ Union as the event grew.

4. The move to Northumbria

   Across the city, into another chapter

   Refurbishment at Newcastle University prompted a move to Northumbria Students’ Union, our home for the 2027 festival.

5. 2027 · Festival number 49

   See you on 7–10 April

   The count is of festivals held, rather than consecutive years. There was no festival in 1977, 2020 or 2021.

Historical details from Canny Bevvy, issue 259, pages 16–17 (PDF), by Hubert Gieschen, drawing on Jan Anderson’s festival history.

Local beer has always been part of the story

Big Lamp Bitter appeared at the 1983 festival. Mordue launched at the festival in 1995 and won Champion Beer of Britain with Workie Ticket two years later.

Those are two moments in a much longer relationship between the festival and the region’s brewers.

The people behind the bars

Tyneside & Northumberland CAMRA volunteers organise the festival. There is work to do well before the doors open, from arranging supplies and building bars to welcoming visitors and serving drinks.

Whether you come for a familiar beer, your first perry or a catch-up with friends, you are joining an event that people give their time to make happen.

Were you there?

Have an old programme, a photograph, a festival glass or a memory of the Guildhall days? We would love to hear your part of the story.

Tell us the year and venue if you know them, and who took any photographs. We will check permission before publishing material you share.