The National Winter Ales Festival (NWAF) is organised annually by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). From 2018 it was marketed as Great British Beer Festival Winter. The event showcases

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...

s available in the UK in the winter months, especially

strong ale Strong ale is a type of ale, usually above 5% abv and often higher, between 7% to 11% abv, which spans a number of beer styles, including old ale, barley wine and Burton ale. Strong ales are brewed throughout Europe and beyond, including in Engl ...

s, stouts and

porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

s. It was first held in 1997, alongside the

Great British Beer Festival The Great British Beer Festival (sometimes abbreviated as GBBF) is an annual beer festival organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). It presents a selection of cask ales, and the Champion Beer of Britain awards, and is held in August of e ...

. Great British Beer Festival Winter is also home to the Champion Winter Beer of Britain awards.

Host city and date

The festival is generally held in January or February of each year; however there were two festivals in 1997, one at each end of the year. The first one gave the awards for 1996/7 and the second for 1997/8; there was no festival in 1998. While the summer event has been exclusive to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

since 1991, the Great British Beer Festival Winter moves between host cities, allocated on 3-year cycle. Branches of CAMRA around the United Kingdom bid for the event. Derby was the host city for 2014 to 2016 where the event was held at the Roundhouse. The final Derby festival drew 13,832 attendees, the largest in the event's history. They drank a combined 57,000 pints of the 470 beers on offer. Norwich and Norfolk CAMRA hosted the event in 2017, 2018 and 2019, at The Halls, a medieval complex in Norwich consisting of St Andrew's Hall and Blackfriars' Hall.

Venues

* 1997 - Old Fruit Market,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

* 1999 - Upper Campfield Market,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

* 2000 - Upper Campfield Market,

* 2001 - Upper Campfield Market,

* 2002 - Upper Campfield Market,

* 2003 - Old Town Hall,

Burton-on-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. Th ...

* 2004 - Old Town Hall,

* 2005 -

New Century Hall New Century House is an office building with an attached conference hall, in the NOMA district of Manchester, England. New Century House is high and has 14 levels. There is office space, conference facilities, catering facilitates and a gym. H ...

* 2006 - New Century Hall,

* 2007 - New Century Hall,

* 2008 - New Century Hall,

* 2009 - New Century Hall,

* 2010 - Sheridan Suite,

* 2011 - Sheridan Suite,

* 2012 - Sheridan Suite,

* 2013 - Sheridan Suite,

* 2014 - The Roundhouse,

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

* 2015 - The Roundhouse,

* 2016 - The Roundhouse,

* 2017 - The Halls,

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

* 2018 - The Halls,

* 2019 - The Halls,

* 2020 - The New Bingley Hall,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

* 2021 - The New Bingley Hall,

Cancelled due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

* 2022 - The New Bingley Hall,

Cancelled due to

* 2023 - Burton Town Hall,

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The ...

at Burton Beer Festival 2023

References

External links

*
CAMRA
{{CAMRA Winter festivals in the United Kingdom Beer festivals in the United Kingdom 1997 establishments in the United Kingdom Festivals established in 1997 Annual events in the United Kingdom