Tickets are now on sale for Birmingham’s new Craft Drink Festival — a two-day summer festival featuring craft beer, gin, cider and wine plus independent food stalls, live music and brewing workshops.

The weekend festival — which runs over July 28 and 29 at the Birmingham NEC’s Hall 16 and Gardens — will make the most of the venue’s indoor and outdoor space, providing visitors with a drinking hall, two live music stages, a comedy tent, cinema, and space for brewing workshops and panel sessions.

The two-day event will feature both new and established names, each giving craft enthusiasts the chance to test their finest tipple.

Breweries announced so far include: ABK Beer, Black Storm, Brewgooder, Bude Brewery, Craft AcademyHunter’s Brewery, Mallinson’s Brewing Co, Sadler’s Ales and Stewart Brewing, with more to be confirmed over the coming weeks.

Diverse

Event director, Sarah Walker, said: “The festival is all about celebrating the UK’s diverse craft drink scene, whether it’s hand-crafted gin, award-winning beer or unique non-alcoholic beverages.

“Alongside tasting sessions and panel discussions, visitors can sample a number of interesting brands, each with a different story behind them, from Old Curiosity’s colour-changing gin to Brewgooder’s charitable mission to ‘drink beer, give water’.”

Visitors can also choose from a variety of exciting feature areas, including pop-up cinema, comedy and two stages of live music featuring both local and national acts.

The comedy will include headliners Jarred Christmas, Kiri Pritchard Mclean and Tom Wrigglesworth, as well as industry stalwarts like Tom Bloom and Simon Brodkin (creator of Lee Nelson).​

Running two sessions per day, the Comedy Bung is sponsored by Just the Tonic. Some of its biggest exports include Bill Bailey, Jo Brand, Stewart Lee, Paul Foot, Reginald D Hunter, Jack Dee, Sean Lock, Shappi Khorsandi, Frankie Boyle, Josie Long, Jimmy Carr, Peter Kay and Ricky Gervais.

Meanwhile, over in the Brew Kettle, tasting masterclasses and home-brew tutorials will give visitors the chance to train their tastebuds while educating their minds.

Tickets for Craft Drink Festival 2018 are on sale now (starting at £18), available from the festival website

• Marked Events is currently taking bookings for exhibitors and sponsorship. For exhibitor enquiries e-mail lyndsey@markedevents.co.uk and for sponsorship enquiries e-mail Gareth.lloyd@necgroup.co.uk

Craft Drink Festival