After a two-year hiatus, the Edinburgh-based ‘women who beer’ group, Beers Without Beards, is organising a second Women In Beer Festival (WiB Fest) from from 20th to 23rd October.
The Women in Beer meet-up in 2019. Photograph: Beers Without Beards
The group will team up with Edinburgh pubs to showcase some of the best breweries (either female owned or with female brewers) in the UK, including Lost and Grounded, Wild Card, Merakai , and the local Newbarns Brewery.
Amélie Tassin, founder or Beers Without Beards and WIB Fest, said: “It’s good to be back! And after the events of the past two years, like Covid and the ‘beer me too’ movement, it seemed even more important to highlight the work women and non-binary folk are doing for our industry.”
One of the weekend’s biggest events, the Women Who Beer meet-up, will welcome female-led beer groups from all over the country. It will also celebrate the launch of the four collaborative beers brewed by the group members for the festival.
This year will see two new events added to festival line-up: a day-long industry event, with talks and tastings, and a run, co-organised with local running group Good Time Running, raising funds for WiB Fest’s charity partner.
The industry event will feature a series of panel discussions, and talks on various topics linked to the problems faced by the UK’s beer industry. From a discussion on the actions taken after ‘beer me too’ to talks about the challenges facing breweries when they decide to scale up, the event will be a platform for some of the most talented female and non-binary professionals in beer.
Attendees can also enjoy networking breaks throughout the day to browse or sample the products showcased by the festival’s sponsors.
Amelie added: “This industry event is something I’ve had in mind for a long time, and I am very happy to see it coming to fruition. I think the industry has been lacking that kind of format showcasing underrepresented figures within beer in the UK, and I hope it’ll be the first of many.”
Companies who would like to support WiB Fest’s small and independent team by becoming a sponsor are encouraged to get in touch with the organisers at hello@tipplemarketing.com.
Tickets for both industry event and run will be on sale from 21st September at beerswobeards.com.
