We are now busy getting on with organising the 50th annual Steel City Beer & Cider Festival which is due to take place at the atmospheric Kelham Island Museum from 21 to 24 October 2026. As usual there’ll be a huge range of some 200 cask ales, plus 80 other craft beers featuring all manner of blondes, bitters, sours and stouts. There will also be 30 different ciders & perries. Plus street food stalls, games, live music and more.
The event is entirely organised, run and staffed by volunteers who love being part of putting it on in Sheffield and sharing their passion for good beer or cider. We are now recruiting volunteers and the staffing form will shortly be live on the Festival website at sheffield.camra.org.uk/sc, where you can also find all the information you need about the Festival and when its open.
Not all the jobs are behind a bar pouring drinks – although we need plenty of people for those tasks. We also need people on the admissions desk, games stalls, token sales points, book and products stall, glass wash area, in the office or maybe encouraging people to join CAMRA (which gets you free entry to this and other festivals) and more. If you’ve experience working at festivals in the past that’ll be brilliant but if not don’t worry, just bring enthusiasm and flexibility and we’ll find you a role you’ll enjoy and show you what to do!
Obviously being a volunteer you don’t get paid but don’t worry, there are some perks! Volunteer staff get a free ale and cider allowance, staff t-shirt, food vouchers if you work two or more consecutive shifts and an invite to a volunteer reunion social where we lay on a coach to a great beery destination, which this year will be Belper with a brief stop at the Drone Valley Brewery on the way.
We’ll start setting up the Festival on Sunday 18th when we erect the stillage, Monday will see the start of the beer deliveries and the cooling systems getting connected and switched on. Then the bars are put up and hand pumps fixed to them and connected up. In the Keg Room, at the back of the Museum, the keg wall will be being erected and beers piped up to it. There’ll also be a Learn & Discover bar and other tasting sessions in the Power Room.
The Festival opens at 5pm on Wednesday 21st through to 10:30pm. Its 11:30 to 22:30 on Thursday & Friday. On Saturday we open slightly earlier at 11:00 and also close earlier at 21:00. Volunteers are asked to come in c30 minutes earlier to get things and themselves ready.
We would appreciate it if you can help us start take down after we close on Saturday night which we follow with a bit of an after party with free food and drink and if you help with the Sunday take down we’ll invite you to an exclusive social get together with a bit of food provided a few weeks later.
So why not join us for some or part of the Festival week. The hours will be as long as you want (usually done in 3 hour shift blocks) and shouldn’t be too strenuous. You’ll be in good company and we hope you’ll have an enjoyable time.
- Any questions? – email festivalstaffing@sheffield.camra.org.uk.
- Sign up on the website – sheffield.camra.org.uk/scbf
