Beervana is an annual two-day beer festival in
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, with 14,000 – 16,000
visitors attending. Typically there are 350–450
different
craft beer
Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...
s.
The majority of breweries are from New Zealand, although in the past breweries from Australia and around the world including the US, the UK and Japan have participated. Typically the festival is held over four sessions across a Friday and Saturday in August.
The entire festival is held within the
Wellington Regional Stadium concourse, a large, oval corridor inside the stadium.
History
Beervana began as the ''New Zealand Beer, Wine and Spirits Council's NZ Beer Expo'' in 2001, and included events across Wellington celebrating the growing New Zealand craft beer industry. It was held just after the New Zealand Brewers Guild Awards, as a way for brewers to make use of the leftover beer they submitted for judging.
The ''NZ Beer Expo'' briefly became ''The Great New Zealand Beer Show,'' which in turn evolved into ''Taste BrewNZ'', held at the Wellington Town Hall. The Brewers Guild of New Zealand then created "''Beervana''" in 2008. The festival was sold to then Guild president, David Cryer, who in 2011 moved it to the Wellington Regional Stadium. The Wellington Culinary Events Trust bought Beervana in 2015 and has run the festival ever since.
Over the years there have been collaborative brews between international and locally based breweries and journalists.
Beervana today
Beer is provided by brewers from around New Zealand, and there are usually brewers from overseas represented. In 2022 and 2023, Australian breweries from the
Sunshine Coast Region
The Sunshine Coast Region is a local government area located in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia.
It was created by the amalgamation in 2008 of the City of Caloundra and the Shires of Maroochy and Noosa. It cont ...
exhibited.
There is a
Pink Boots Society
The Pink Boots Society (PBS) is a non-profit organization with international membership which supports women and non-binary people working in the fermented beverages and allied industries. PBS started with women beer professionals and expanded that ...
stand, which showcases females in brewing, and a New Kids On the Block stand, which features new breweries which have opened up within the previous year.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Beervana
Beer festivals
Annual events in New Zealand
Events in Wellington
Beer in New Zealand