Shrewsbury Beer Festival
The 33rd Shrewsbury Beer Festival has now finished. Thanks to everyone who came to the event, and we hope to see you again!
Provisional dates for the next festival are Wednesday 23rd to Saturday 26th September 2026.
The information for the 2025 festival will be left up on this page for a while for anyone that is interested. The Live Beer List will also be available to view for a while, showing the final status of all the beers, ciders and perries when the festival ended.
The 33rd Shrewsbury Beer Festival has now finished. Thanks to everyone who came to the event, and we hope to see you again in 2026!
The information for the last festival will be left up on this page for a while for anyone that is interested.
The provisional dates for the 2025 festival are Wednesday 24th to Saturday 27th September to be held at St. Mary’s church again – make a note in your diary! In the meantime, keep an eye on our Festival Facebook page for the latest information.
The 33rd Shrewsbury CAMRA Beer Festival will take place from 24th to 27th September 2025 in the magnificent medieval St. Mary’s church. We are aiming on having around 100 real ales again, many from Shropshire and the surrounding areas, and a good selection of ciders and perries.
Our festival venue, the Church of St Mary the Virgin, is an amazing Grade 1 listed redundant church, which is now mostly used as a community resource. The tiled floors, the carved wooden ceiling and particularly the stained glass windows would each be worth a visit on their own, but combined they make a unique and spectacular setting for a beer and cider festival.
Our main sponsor for 2025 will once again be Salopian Brewery, whose support is very much appreciated. They will have their own bar at the festival, and this year will be providing up to six special cask ales.
The 33rd Shrewsbury CAMRA Beer Festival will take place from 24th to 27th September 2025 in the magnificent medieval St. Mary’s church. We are aiming on having around 100 real ales again, many from Shropshire and the surrounding areas, and a good selection of ciders and perries.
Our festival venue, the Church of St Mary the Virgin, is an amazing Grade 1 listed redundant church, which is now mostly used as a community resource. The tiled floors, the carved wooden ceiling and particularly the stained glass windows would each be worth a visit on their own, but combined they make a unique and spectacular setting for a beer and cider festival.
As we are still in the early stages of planning, please check back here nearer the time for more up-to-date details, or keep an eye on our Festival Facebook page.
If you are interested in helping to organise or run the festival, the Festival Working Party meetings have started again and you are welcome to come along. Please see the What’s On page for details of when they are.
The 32nd Shrewsbury CAMRA Beer Festival took place from 25th to 28th September 2024 in the magnificent medieval St. Mary’s church. We had around 100 real ales again, many from Shropshire and the surrounding areas, and a good selection of ciders and perries.
Our festival venue, the Church of St Mary the Virgin, is an amazing Grade 1 listed redundant church which is now mostly used as a community resource. The tiled floors, the carved wooden ceiling and particularly the stained glass windows would each be worth a visit on their own, but combined they make a unique and spectacular setting for a beer and cider festival.
The 32nd Shrewsbury CAMRA Beer Festival will take place from 25th to 28th September 2024 in the magnificent medieval St. Mary’s church. We are aiming to have around 100 real ales again, many from Shropshire and the surrounding areas, and a good selection of ciders and perries. For all the latest information, please see our Festival Facebook page.
This year, you will be able to pay on the door, or buy a ticket in advance from CAMRA’s ticketing agency Tckty, by clicking here or by scanning the QR code below:
The 32nd Shrewsbury CAMRA Beer Festival will take place from 25th to 28th September 2024 in the magnificent medieval St. Mary’s church. We are aiming to have around 100 real ales again, many from Shropshire and the surrounding areas, and a good selection of ciders and perries.
Festival planning is well underway and we have begun to select the beers, ciders, perries, rums and gins we will be offering, well over 100 in total. This year, you will be able to pay on the door, or buy a ticket in advance from CAMRA’s ticketing agency Tckty, by clicking here or by scanning the QR code below:
The 32nd Shrewsbury CAMRA Beer Festival will take place from 25th to 28th September 2024 in the magnificent medieval St. Mary’s church. We are aiming to have around 100 real ales again, many from Shropshire and the surrounding areas, and a good selection of ciders and perries. Salopian Brewery has kindly offered to be our main festival sponsor again.
As we are still in the early stages of planning, please check back here nearer the time for more details. Our festival Facebook page is also worth keeping an eye on for the latest information.
If you are interested in helping to organise or run the festival, the Festival Working Party meetings have started again and you are welcome to come along. Please see the What’s On page for details of when they are.
The 32nd Shrewsbury CAMRA Beer Festival in 2024 will take place from 25th to 28th September 2024 in the magnificent medieval St. Mary’s church. The festival will be sponsored this year by Salopian Brewing Co. Ltd., one of our superb local breweries who will have their own dedicated bar at the festival. We will have around 100 real ales, many from Shropshire and the surrounding areas, and around 16 ciders and perries. Also available will be a selection of gin and rum for those that like something different. For more details and answers to frequently asked questions, please see below.
Advance Tickets
Advance ticket sales have now ended, but you can still pay on the door when you arrive. See the Tickets section below for more information.
Beers and Ciders
The final lists of beers, ciders and perries for the 2025 festival are now available to view. See the Beers and Ciders section below.
Live Beer List
A new feature on our website this year is a live beer list, which will be available for the duration of the Festival.
This is a fully searchable list of all the beers, along with their current availability.
Anyone with a mobile device will be able to see which beers are available, running low or sold out.
Volunteering
We are still looking for volunteers to help us at the Festival. The more volunteers we have, the more the workload is spread out.
You don’t need previous experience or be a CAMRA member, as training will be given if necessary.
For more information, please see the Volunteering section below. Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated.
Festival Information
Location
The festival will be at St. Mary’s Church (full name is the Church of St. Mary the Virgin). This is located on St. Mary’s Street, just beyond the top of the pedestrianised Pride Hill in Shrewsbury town centre. The postcode of the church is SY1 1DX.
It’s about 5 minutes or so walk up Castle Gates and Castle Street from the railway and bus stations, and there are various car parks around the town centre, between 5 and 15 minutes walk away. Please note that there is no car park at the church itself.
Opening Times
The 2025 festival will be open on the following days:
Wednesday 24th September from 11:00 to 22:30
Thursday 25th September from 11:00 to 22:30
Friday 26th September from 11:00 to 22:30
Saturday 27th September from 11:00 to 21:00 (or until the beer runs out)
Tickets
Entrance fees will be set nearer the time but it’s likely that we will have an entrance package again, as this seems to have worked well for the last few festivals.
The entrance package for the last festival included entrance fee (for non-CAMRA members), beer glass deposit, some beer tokens and a festival programme.
Entry for non-CAMRA members will be £13, which includes a £3 entrance fee, £3.25 refundable souvenir glass deposit, 9 beer tokens totalling £6.75 (enough for your first 3 half pints), and a programme.
Entry for CAMRA members will be £10, which includes free entrance fee, £3.25 refundable souvenir glass deposit, 9 beer tokens totalling £6.75 (enough for your first 3 half pints), and a programme.
Extra 75p beer tokens are available singly or in blocks and can be bought with card or cash from inside the festival.
Please note that advance ticket sales from Tkty have now closed but you can still pay on the door when you arrive.
If you join CAMRA on the day, you will be eligible for the discounted entry, and you will get a further 4 free half pints! Membership starts at £22 if you are under 26, £30.50 for older people. Joint memberships are available for an extra £8. As benefits include £30 of money-off vouchers in selected pubs and discounts in others, it’s a really good deal! More information on the benefits of CAMRA membership is available here. Detailed information on membership prices is available here.
Tickets for the festival can be purchased at the entrance when you arrive, or in advance from Tckty, CAMRA’s online ticket booking system.
To purchase advance tickets, either click the button below, or use your mobile device’s camera to scan the 3D barcode, which will open up the Tckty website in your web browser.
On Tckty, single day tickets and multi-day “season” tickets are available.
Beers and Ciders
The full list of beers, ciders and perries for the 2025 festival will not be available until a week before the festival starts. However, you can look at what was available at the last festival to give you an idea of the types of beers and ciders we offer. Please click on the links below:
Beer and Cider Lists
The full list of beers, ciders and perries for the 2025 festival is now available to view using the links below.
For non-beer drinkers, we will have a good selection of craft gins and country wines.
Live Beer List
We now also have a webpage with a live beer list, which is a fully searchable list of all the beers, along with their current availability. Anyone with a mobile device at the festival will be able to see which beers are still available, which are running low or those that have run out.
The list will automatically refresh every 60 seconds, ensuring that the most up-to-date information is always displayed. We hope you find it useful.
Sponsors
Main Sponsor
Salopian Brewery
Main Bar Sponsor
Start Tech
Partners
Modo UK
RAD Beer
Sign and Poster
Cask Sponsors
Bailey Head
Admiral Benbow
Bird in Hand
Cromwell’s Tap House
Hobsons Brewery
Ludlow Brewery
Nag’s Head
Prince of Wales
Shropshire Foods
Stonehouse Brewery
Tap and Can
Three Fishes
Three Tuns Brewery
Woodman Inn
Festival Sponsor
Salopian Brewery
Venue Sponsors
Modo UK
Arrol Green
Seating Sponsor
Prince Rupert Hotel
Bar Sponsors
Bailey Head
Prince of Wales
Partners
REO (UK) Ltd
RAD Beer
Shrewsbury Pride
Adverts
Avon Estates
Three Cask Sponsors
Prince of Wales
Two Cask Sponsors
Bailey Head
Prince Rupert
Reomed
Tap and Can
Cask Sponsors
Admiral Benbow
Castle Vaults
Cider Chiefs
Condor Coffee House
Cromwells
Nags Head
Rad
Salopian Bar
Shropshire Trading
Spel
Steven Caerns
St. Annes Brewery
Three Fishes
Woodman
Other Information
Other Information
Accessibility
Beer Glasses
Everyone will be given a half-pint commemorative glass when first entering the festival, with a deposit paid as part of the entrance fee. The glass can be taken home afterwards as a souvenir, or handed in when leaving to get the deposit back.
For people who are leaving the festival for a short while but planning to come back later that day, we can store your glass at reception, so you can pick it up again when you come back. Please note that you are not allowed to carry a glass in your hand outside the festival venue, so if you are leaving, you will need to get a small bag from reception to carry the glass in.
The glass will have 1/3 of a pint marked on it, so beer can be purchased in 1/3 or 1/2 pint measures.
Charities
We have not finalised which charities that we will be supporting this year, so check back here nearer to the festival. For a list of last year’s charities, please see the section below for the 2024 festival.
We will be collecting for the same three main charities as last year, and would like to thank all our generous visitors for their donations over the years. Your contributions really do help.
Each charity will have a “charity” beer, which have been donated by branch members. All profits from beer sales for those beers will go to the particular charity. See the Festival Program or Beer List on this festival page for details of the charity beers.
The Churches Conservation Trust is the charity which runs St Mary’s. The money we collected last year went towards refurbishing the wonderful stained glass and in particular repairing vandalism to a window in the south wall. This year, we will be collecting money for restoration of the church clock.
The Poppy Appeal really needs no introduction, except to say that the Festival has a long-standing relationship with the Shropshire branch of this amazing support mechanism for those who have served their country and now need some extra help.
Team Cleo is a local feeder charity for The Brain Tumour Charity. Team Cleo was set up by a couple of Shrewsbury and West Shropshire CAMRA members following the death of their daughter and raises funds in her name for research and support.
You can donate cash, unused drinks tokens or your glass refund to the charities on the exit desk. There will be clearly marked donation points for each.
We also run a Tombola every festival, and we will be donating 50% of the takings to the Severn Hospice, a local charity providing free end-of-life care at hospices in Shrewsbury and Telford, and also at home.
In addition, Team Cleo and The Churches Conservation Trust will each have a beer dedicated to them, bought and donated by Branch members. The Poppy Appeal will have volunteers selling poppies and merchandise during some sessions of the festival.
Children
Parents with children are welcome in the festival until 6pm each night. Children will not be allowed to approach the bars apart from the Drivers’ Bar which will be dispensing soft drinks. Parents are asked to control their children for the safety of the children themselves and that of other customers.
Dogs
Well behaved dogs are welcome at the beer festival. However, after 6pm on Friday and 4pm on Saturday, the venue can get very crowded and may not be an ideal environment for some dogs. At these times, there is usually a bit more space around the edges and also in the back of the church where the seating area is. Care will be needed in negotiating the crowds in the main hall on the way in or out.
Owners are expected to assess whether the density of the crowd in the venue is suitable for their dogs, for the safety of both the dogs and of other customers.
Drink Prices
Prices for beer and cider will be published soon. We will be using a token system again. You will get enough tokens for your first three half pints as part of the entrance package. More tokens can then be purchased by cash or card from the Token Stand inside the festival.
After keeping our drinks prices the same for the last two festivals, we have had to raise them slightly this year, so each drinks token now costs 75p.
The prices of all “normal” strength beers and ciders (up to 5.5% ABV) will be identical. So a third of a pint will cost two tokens (equivalent to £1.50), and half a pint will be three tokens (equivalent to £2.25). Stronger beers and ciders with an ABV of 5.6% and above will be individually priced.
Country wines will be six tokens each (equivalent to £4.50). For gin drinkers, a 25ml gin with premium tonics will be 6 tokens (equivalent to £4.50), and a 50ml measure will be 9 tokens (equivalent to £6.75). Cocktails will be an extra token (75p extra).
Additional tokens are 75p each and are on sale at a kiosk between the Salopian sponsors bar and the cider bar. Payment is by cash or card. You can buy as many or as few tokens as you like, and if you buy too many you can get a refund on exit.
Food
Indian street food will be available at the festival, as well as rolls with various fillings. We generally do not provide too many food options, as we are right in the centre of town and many visitors prefer to nip out of the festival to sample the wide range of food available in Shrewsbury.
If you do leave the festival and go into Shrewsbury town centre to get a meal or a snack, you just need to show your festival wristband to get back in to the festival afterwards. You can come and go as often as you like during the day. Beer glasses can be stored for you at reception, so you can pick them up again when coming back in.
You can bring your own sandwiches or finger food into the festival but we have no cutlery, so please don’t bring anything that needs any dining utensils. Also, please don’t bring food that generates a lot of waste such as pizzas, or picnic hampers that take up a lot of room.
Indian street food and rolls with various fillings will be available to purchase at the festival.
You can bring your own sandwiches or finger food into the festival but we have no cutlery, so please don’t bring anything that needs any dining utensils. Also, please don’t bring food that generates a lot of waste such as pizzas, or picnic hampers that take up a lot of room.
Others like to leave the festival and go into Shrewsbury town centre to get a meal or a snack. You just need to show your festival wristband to get back in to the festival afterwards. You can come and go as often as you like during the day that you’ve paid for. Beer glasses can be stored for you at reception, so you can pick them up again when coming back in.
Gluten-Free Beer
Some of the real ales at the festival will be gluten-free. These will be marked on the beer list, which can be viewed or downloaded from the Beers and Ciders section above.
Non-Drinkers
For those who don’t want any alcoholic drinks, and also for those that maybe need a brief break from the beer, we will have a small range of soft drinks that will be available at the Drivers’ bar.
If you are a not going to be drinking anything alcoholic because you are driving other drinkers home afterwards, you can get a special coloured wristband on entry which shows that you are a “designated driver”. This will enable you to get free soft drinks from the Drivers’ bar.
Vegan Beer
We will also have some cask beer at the festival that is suitable for Vegans. These will also be marked on the beer list, which can be viewed or downloaded from the Beers and Ciders section above.
Volunteering
Running the festival is a big job and the only way it can happen is if as many people help out as possible. There are plenty of different jobs available and, although the festival can be hard work, we have fun too!
Setting up involves assembling racking, the cooling system, the bar and handpulls, other stalls, reception area, seating and tables, and of course installing around 100 casks of ale. Obviously, some of the work is quite physical but there are plenty of lighter jobs available, such as checking the casks in when they arrive.
When the festival is open, we need people to help out on reception, serve beer and cider, sell beer tokens, help with the raffle, plus others to help clean up, or troubleshoot. Morning, afternoon and evening shifts are available for anyone who would like to help out. Any time you can spare is a great help.
After the festival finishes on Saturday evening, the breakdown commences. The main part of this happens on Sunday with everything needing to be cleaned, packed away, and loaded onto transport. Monday is usually when the empty casks are taken away and the venue tidied and cleaned. Again, if you are not able to do any of the more physical work, there are plenty of other jobs such as checking everything against lists of inventory.
If you would like to help out, please download and complete the spreadsheet below to let us know your availability. Clicking on the link should automatically download the spreadsheet and put it in your default Downloads folder on your computer.
If anyone would like to help out at the next Shrewsbury Beer Festival, either with the setting up beforehand, assisting at the festival itself, or packing up afterwards, please download and complete the spreadsheet below to let us know your availability. Clicking on the link should automatically download the spreadsheet and put it in your default Downloads folder on your computer.
Completed forms should be sent to staffing@saws.camra.org.uk as soon as possible, so that the staff rota can be organised. Thank you.
For more information on the type of help we need at the festival, please see the Beer Festival section on the Getting Involved page. You don’t have to be a CAMRA member, or to have worked at beer festivals before, to help. Any assistance you can give will be greatly appreciated.
Shrewsbury Beer Festival 2024
We had a very successful 32nd Shrewsbury Beer Festival in September 2024. Thanks to everyone who came along – it was great to see you all, and from the feedback we received, it sounds like you all had a good time!
Charities
Also, thanks to all those who donated cash, glass deposits and spare beer tokens to the charities we were collecting for. Just as a reminder, these very worthwhile charities are listed below:
The Churches Conservation Trust is the charity which runs St Mary’s. Money we collect will go to refurbishing the wonderful stained glass and in particular repairing vandalism to a window in the south wall
The Poppy Appeal really needs no introduction, except to say that the Festival has a long-standing relationship with the Shropshire branch of this amazing support mechanism for those who have served their country and now need some extra help
Team Cleo is a local feeder charity for The Brain Tumour Charity. Team Cleo was set up by a couple of Shrewsbury and West Shropshire CAMRA members following the death of their daughter and raises funds in her name for research and support
We also donated 50% of the takings from the Tombola to Severn Hospice, a very worthwhile local charity.
Sponsors
Sponsors
Festival Sponsor
Salopian Brewery
Venue Sponsors
Modo UK
Arrol Green
Seating Sponsor
Prince Rupert Hotel
Bar Sponsors
Bailey Head
Prince of Wales
Partners
REO (UK) Ltd
RAD Beer
Shrewsbury Pride
Three Cask Sponsors
Prince of Wales
Two Cask Sponsors
Bailey Head
Prince Rupert
Reomed
Tap and Can
Cask Sponsors
Admiral Benbow
Castle Vaults
Cider Chiefs
Condor Coffee House
Cromwells
Nags Head
Rad
Salopian Bar
Shropshire Trading
Spel
Steven Caerns
St. Annes Brewery
Three Fishes
Woodman
Adverts
Avon Estates
Previous Festivals
The Shrewsbury Beer Festival has been going for over 30 years. For a trip down memory lane and a look at some Shrewsbury Beer Festivals from previous years, please click on the button below.