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Sheffield’s 49th annual Steel City Beer & Cider Festival takes place at Kelham Island Museum from 15 to 18 October 2025, here is a guide to what is planned this year!
As previous years, the two main areas of the festival are the upper hall and marquee, both which feature a huge cask ale bar, cider & perry bar plus a can/bottle bar which will feature some low/no alcohol options.
There will also be a room featuring three guest brewers hosting their own bars (as well as Bradfield who this year will be in the main hall upstairs) and a room dedicated to craft beer in kegs. The guest brewers are Radio City, Turning Point and Ossett.
The upper hall will also feature CAMRA book stall and merchandise plus the “every 1 is a winner” tombola along with the CAMRA membership sign up stand whilst down in the marquee you’ll find some classic old skool pub games to test your skill and luck on.
As usual there will be an array of third party food & drink traders at the festival:
- in the courtyard serving hot food will be Sunshine Pizza Oven, Yuleys Bratwurst, Yorkshire Crepes and Caribbean Fusion
- in the Stone Garden will be Bonnie & Clyde serving Italian comfort food
- in the upper hall will be Cheese Factor serving ploughman’s lunches, pork pies and cheese sandwiches whilst Fairfax Chocolatiers will be selling their fancy chocolates along with signature spirits which are available by the bottle to take home or to enjoy as a cheeky shot or part of a cocktail
A change this year is all our bars will be taking card payment (contactless or chip & PIN), however we’ll also still be selling the £5 bar tokens which you can buy using cash or card. There will be token sales desks in the marquee and upper hall.
As a result of the bars taking card payment, the entry price is no longer packaged in with beer tokens so the amount charged on the gate will be lower this year. As before all admissions are sold on the gate, however if you wish to attend one of the tours, talks and tasting events you can buy tickets for those in advance online.
WEDNESDAY 15 OCTOBER
The festival is open from 5pm to 10:30pm. However if you are a CAMRA member, sponsor, industry staff or journalist you can get in a little earlier for a preview session from 4pm which can be a great networking opportunity!
At 6pm we’ll be announcing the Champion Beer of Sheffield & District following an afternoon of judging the beers entered by local breweries. Additionally our very special guest, Jon McClure from Reverend & The Makers, will be opening the festival. The band has a new single out – Haircut – do buy a copy or download if that’s your thing!
We’ll also have Dan from the Brewery of St Mars of the Desert hosting a tapping of their German Stichfass, be prompt if you want to try some as when it’s gone it’s gone!
Entry to the festival on the Wednesday evening is free of charge for everyone other than a £3 deposit on a souvenir glass to drink out of.
the Millowners Arms pub will be open exclusively to festival visitors with a full range of beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks plus a food offering expected to include pies and various snacks.
THURSDAY 16 OCTOBER
The festival is open from 11:30am to 10:30pm. Entry is £2 for CAMRA members, £5 for everyone else, plus a £3 deposit for the souvenir glass to drink out of.
There’s a couple of optional extra events to add to your festival experience. You can go on a guided walk of the local area that featured in the book “Sheffield 1925: Gang Wars and Wembley Glory” with author John Stocks and local pub heritage expert Dave Pickersgill and the tour will finish at the beer festival. Tickets for this cost £12 and include entry to the festival with the tour starting at 11:30am.
We also have Bradfield Brewery hosting a tutored tasting at 7pm showcasing the depth and breadth of their beer range including an oak aged beer. Tickets for this cost £9 on top of festival entry covering the cost of the tasting samples (5 x third pints).
Finally on Thursday night at 8pm we have live music in the upper hall with The Retrobates, starring Kitty Noir, performing rythm & blues.
The steam powered River Don engine will be fired up for a demonstration run at 6:30pm.
FRIDAY 17 OCTOBER
The festival is open from 11:30am to 10:30pm. Entry is £3 for CAMRA members, £7 for everyone else, plus a £3 deposit for the souvenir glass to drink out of.
An optional extra event to add to your festival experience at 4:30pm is a pub heritage talk, concentrating on Sheffield’s Little Chicago Quarter. It will explore both the pub heritage aspects of the area plus the streets which feature in the book, ‘Sheffield 1925: Gang Wars and Wembley Glory.’ The cost is £4 on top of festival entry and includes a copy of the Little Chicago pub walk booklet.
At 8pm on Friday night we have Soul Battalion on stage in the upper hall performing the best of soul and motown.
The steam powered River Don engine will be fired up for a demonstration run at 1pm and 6pm.
SATURDAY 18 OCTOBER
The festival is open from 11am to 9pm. Entry is £3 for CAMRA members, £7 for everyone else, plus a £3 deposit for the souvenir glass to drink out of.
In the upper hall we have Loxley Silver Band playing at 2pm and Blyth Power (a long established folk rock band) on at 5pm. Throughout the afternoon the Kelham Island Rapper team will be dancing around the festival.
The steam powered River Don engine will be fired up for a demonstration run at 1pm and 4:30pm.
CHARITY
The good cause we are supporting this year is the Sheffield Childrens’ Hospital Charity with collection buckets placed around the festival. Please consider dropping a donation in and they will also accept unspent credit from beer tokens.
SOUVENIR GLASS
All your drinks will be served in your branded festival glass which you can keep as a souvenir or return for a refund at the end. There is a choice of half or pint glasses and all also have a third pint line. Our bars offer a choice of third, half and pint measures. The glasses are sponsored by Hendersons Relish and Bradfield Brewery. There are self service glass rinsing stations around the festival.
VOLUNTEERING
The festival is organised and staffed entirely by volunteers. If you’d like to help out please visit the website for more information and complete the online staffing form.
MORE INFORMATION
All the details, including the beer & cider lists, will be available on the website (sheffield.camra.org.uk/sc) once confirmed or alternatively printed programmes will be available to buy at the festival for £1.