The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has announced that it is cancelling this year’s Great British Beer Festival, due to take place at Olympia in August.
This follows the Prime Minister’s decision to restrict all movement outside the home to combat the spread of Coronavirus.
The festival, which features more than 1,000 beers and regularly attracts nearly 40,000 visitors, has been running for over 40 years.
Festival organiser, Catherine Tonry, said: “We will provide a full refund for anyone who has bought an advanced ticket this year within five to 10 working days. This will happen automatically, with no further action required.
“Whilst we hope that restrictions on movement will ease up by August, it is clear we will not have the resources available to organise an event this size during the current crisis.
“The decision to cancel the Great British Beer Festival has not been taken lightly. We were hoping to wait until closer to the time to avoid disappointing our volunteers and the public. However, we can no longer delay.
“We know this will be incredibly disappointing for many of our volunteers, who regularly travel from all corners of the country to help pull pints throughout the week. We want to thank them all for their help each year and hope they will be able to join us once again in 2021.”
