Bedford 48th Beer and Cider Festival

All bars will take beer tokens. Some bars may take cards. Bag searches are likely to be a condition of entry.
Under 18's are only permitted entry for the family session on Saturday. An age verification may be requested at any time. See details below.
Please check the Festival website by clicking here for all the latest Festival information.

Ticket Prices

All advance session tickets are £14. An advance ticket includes glass hire and beer tokens. CAMRA members will get £10 of beer tokens when presenting a valid membership card on entry. Non members will receive £5 of beer tokens. Guaranteed entry only until 7PM. After this, you may need to wait for entry if the venue is at capacity.

Souvenir Glasses

Non-souvenir glasses will be used at the festival on entry. Please feel free to swap your glass during the festival if you want a clean glass. Non-souvenir glasses can be returned at the end of the night and the £4 refunded, or you may even take the glass home with you.
Souvenir glasses will be available to purchase for £4 at the Festival while stocks last. Souvenir glass sales will stop when time at the bar is called but you will be able to swap your non-souvenir glass if you want to take a souvenir glass home.
Bring your own glass if you wish, but it must be oversized and clearly show the legal CE lines for 1/3 and 1/2 or 1/2 and 1 pint measurements. Festival staff reserve the right to serve only in approved glasses. The Festival Organisers decision is final on all matters.

Capacity

Not all tickets will be sold as advance tickets. You will be able to pay on the door, subject to the capacity limit of the Bedford Corn Exchange. If you have an advance ticket, this will guarantee you entry only until 7PM. After this time, you may need to wait for entry if the venue is at capacity.
Don't forget, check the Festival website for the latest information.

Festival Food Menu

We welcome the return of Milton Keynes based Better than Mammas, with a new menu, taking into account customer feedback from last year. We also expect to offer award-winning pork pies! We will advertise any menus on the Festival website which you can get to by clicking here.

Festival Logo

This year's logo celebrates Bedford athlete Harold Abrahams, gold medal winner at the Paris Olympics in 1924, who died 48 years ago. Harold was one of the elite British athletes featured in the 1981 film, Chariots of Fire.

Festival Bars

The bars will offer about 100 cask, keg and international beers, ciders and perries, and a small selection of wines. Rookery Craft Mead will make a return appearance and for the first time, there is a stall for Willow Tree Gin.
Please note: While there is no longer a legally defined 'drinking-up time', the festival will normally give a grace period of 15 minutes for festival visitors to finish their drinks. The Festival volunteers can't leave until every member of the public has safely left and we have go homes to go to as well.

Free admission when you join CAMRA

Get free admission to this year's Bedford Beer and Cider Festival (subject to capacity), and support our campaign when you join CAMRA. Membership starts from £35.00 and this will include £30 of vouchers that can be used to get 50p off select pints at over 1,000 pubs up and down the UK. Join CAMRA online today by clicking here.
If you join CAMRA at the festival, you will receive additional beer tokens so you get free entry and a free drink.

Charity

Our festival charity this year is Alec's Angels, which works with and for children suffering from cancer. A very worthy cause that we are pleased to support.

Glass and Tankard Engraving

Celebrate your visit to Bedford Beer Festival or commemorate a significant event by getting a glass or tankard engraved with the words and decoration of your choice. Visit the Pewterscribe stall at the Festival and talk to Colin Lilley about what you would like. Visit the Pewterscribe web store by clicking here to see examples of what Colin can create for you.