Beer Oasis Returns to Leeds
2nd Leeds International Beer Festival, 5 – 8 September 2013 In association with Kirkstall Brewery
The North’s most exciting beer festival returns with a major celebration of beer, food and music set in and around Leeds Town Hall – the city’s most prestigious and iconic public building. Over four days and 6 festival sessions, audiences will be able to experience hundreds of beers from our own shores and overseas – with breweries from all over the UK taking prominence in the building’s main auditorium, Victoria Hall. Many of the brewers themselves will be in attendance to serve and talk about their beers and ciders and the festival will feature a series of special talks and presentations.
Highlights include:
Festival favourite, Magic Rock, will launch a brand new beer at this year’s festival to celebrate the Grand Depart of The Tour de France from Leeds in 2014. Magic Spanner is a 3.9% super refreshing, extra fruity session pale ale and perfect re-hydration after a hard day on the bike! The name itself comes from the situation where a mechanic in a support vehicle will appear to be making adjustments to the bike but in reality they are giving fatigued riders a break by holding onto the car and getting a massive push-off when the commissaires get too close.
In the early part of this year the beer festival also introduced a new homebrew competition and invited home brewers from Yorkshire to take on their counterparts in Lancashire. The winning beer from each county has now been professionally brewed, in Yorkshire by festival partner Kirkstall Brewery and in Lancashire by Quantum Brewery. The two beers will go head to head at this year’s festival where audiences will vote on the winner.
As well as a huge beer line up this year’s festival will also include a new food and drink market at the front of Leeds Town Hall with some of the best gourmet and street food from across our region, including local favourites, Friends of Ham (in their very own tepee), fish&, El Topo and the launch of Bundobust – which will make its first ever public appearance at this year’s Festival with its unique take on Gujarati cuisine, house brew coriander pilsner and a selection of India Pale Ales. Bundobust is a collaboration between award winning Bradford born institutions Prashad and The Sparrow. Prashad appeared as Finalists on Channel 4’s Gordon Ramsay’s Best Restaurant and has been featured in The Michelin Guide and The Good Food Guide. The Sparrow has been named in top 10 lists in The Guardian and ShortList Magazine, has won Bradford CAMRA’s Pub of The Year, and is featured in The Good Beer Guide.
Audiences will also have a great choice of live music throughout the festival with bands and solo artists playing across two stages and presented by Beacons Festival and YaDig? / JUMBO RECORDS / SHIFTLESS WHEN IDLE.
Session times are:
Thursday 5th Sept – 5 – 10.30pm
Friday 6th Sept – Day, 12 – 5pm / Evening 6 – 11pm
Saturday 7th Sept – Day, 12 – 5pm / Evening 6 – 11pm
Sunday 8th Sept – Day, 12 – 5pm
Admission to each session is £6.50
Full programme details can be found at www.leedsbeer.com – twitter @leedsbeer