This March is slightly quieter than usual for London beer festivals, but there is still a handful of excellent beer drinking opportunities in the city. As always, let us know in the comments if we’ve missed anything notable.
2-4 March: London Drinker Beer & Cider Festival
North London CAMRA’s annual festival returns to the Camden Centre near King’s Cross for its 32nd year. Expect about 100 cask-conditioned ales from London and the rest of the UK, and more than 60 bottles from the ‘international bar’, all served up by CAMRA’s volunteers.
The festival’s main food offerings will also be prepared by volunteers, featuring an interesting selection of traditional and less-obvious beer festival fare.
There are two sessions on each of Wednesday and Thursday: a lunchtime session from noon-3pm with free entry, and an evening session from 5pm-10.30pm for which entry costs £4 on the door. On Friday the festival runs uninterrupted from noon-10.30pm, for which entry also costs £4 on the door. Card-carrying CAMRA members get £1 off the entry fee.
17-19 March: Croydon Craft Beer Festival
Following the success of the inaugural Croydon Craft Beer Festival in autumn, a second instalment returns to Croydon Clocktower’s Braithwaite Hall for three days.
The beer selection is largely focussed on London-based brewers — more than 40 of them, unsurprisingly including Croydon’s own Cronx Brewery. As is common for festivals promoting the ‘craft beer’ moniker, food is of the ‘street’ variety, from local producers. Tickets cost £4 in advance, or £5 on the door.
24-28 March: Craft 100 Beer Festival
For the Clapham branch of Craft Beer Co, Easter weekend means Craft 100 — an unticketed booze-up aiming to make 100 beers available at all times (during the pub's opening hours) from Thursday until Monday. You’ll need to purchase a festival glass for £3 in order to partake in the beery goodness, but otherwise there’s no entry fee.
If you’re a lover of beer or pubs, check out our ever-expanding database of the best pubs in London.
