This month sees the arrival of CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) Winter edition at its new home of Magna, replacing the long established Rotherham Real Ale & Music festival which took place for the last time in 2024.

The festival features a range of over 300 cask ales served on either handpump or gravity with many Yorkshire breweries represented as well as plenty from around the rest of Britain; there will also be around 35 other UK craft beers on keg, a dedicated Champion Winter Beer of Britain bar, a learn & discover zone and a world beer bar with a rotating choice of imported beers in bottle, can and keg.
There will also be brewery bars where their staff will be hosting and available to answer questions about the beers which will be served on both cask and keg. Brewers attending are Abbeydale, Brew York, Chantry, Radio City Beer Works, Wantsum, Theaksons and Thornbridge.
A number of tutored tasting events have also been organised as an optional extra, these have limited capacity and need to be booked in advance, they are led by a knowledgeable and respected host and the price includes a number of beer samples and a talk. Themes include Champion beers, beer & cheese, beer & music and beer brewed on Burton Union sets.
Cider & Perry also features on a dedicated bar curated by a team that are very enthusiastic about the real deal, so expect everything here to be made from freshly pressed apple or pear juice, never from industrial concentrate!
If you’d like to come along and enjoy the atmosphere but aren’t into beer or cider, there will also be a bar offering wine, spirits, soft drinks and no/low alcohol beer. Food will also be available with pub grub style meals available from Magna’s own catering team plus stalls selling snacks.

A busy programme of live music is planned each day and included in the ticket price, this will take place on the stage in the main hall. Rotherham CAMRA branch members will also be there hosting a tombola and old fashioned pub table top games.
The entry price includes a souvenir glass featuring the festival artwork and the sponsor, with a choice of a pint glass or stemmed half, this is yours to take home and keep. There aren’t any programmes this year but the Rotherham Cancer Care charity will be selling printed beer lists for those that want one. This year all the bars will be taking card payment (contactless or chip & pin) on a pay as you go basis, alternatively you can buy £10 beer token cards to spend at the bars, the token sales desks will accept cash.
The festival is organised and staffed by volunteers, if you fancy joining the team please fill in the volunteering form on the website.
All the information and advance tickets is available online at winter.gbbf.org.uk.
OPENING HOURS AND TICKET PRICES
- Wednesday 5pm to 10:30pm (with trade tickets offering access from 4pm)
- Thursday midday to 10:30pm (please be aware that a small number of bars won’t be open until 3pm)
- Friday and Saturday midday to 10:30pm
- Tickets on the door £10 for CAMRA members, £12 for everyone else
- Advance tickets online £8 for CAMRA members, £10 for everyone else. Group and season ticket deals also available online.
- Trade tickets for those working in the pub, beer and cider industry for the Wednesday session are complimentary but must be applied for in advance online.
GETTING THERE
- bus X3 (Sheffield to Doncaster, operated by First) stops on Sheffield Road, behind the venue next to the pedestrian entrance which takes you through to the car park. You can board the bus at Sheffield Interchange, Meadowhall Interchange, Rotherham Interchange and Doncaster Interchange. If you are connecting with other buses in South Yorkshire an all day pass may prove good value – see sytravelmaster.com or the Travelmaster app.
- If you are going by train, the nearest railway station is Meadowhall where you can jump on the X3 bus for a 5 minute ride to Magna.
- From 4pm each day there will also be a special festival shuttle bus running from Meadowhall Interchange and Rotherham Interchange to supplement the X3, this will drop off (and pick up) near the festival entrance and charge a flat fare of £2.50 (other tickets and passes cannot be used). This bus will be operated by Stagecoach and generally run every 30 minutes, ending at 11pm.
- Car parking is available at Magna, which is close to M1 junction 34.
LIVE MUSIC PROGRAMME (timings approximate)
WEDNESDAY EVENING:
- 18:30 Bone Broke Kings
- 19:45 Lightning Threads
- 21:00 The Fargo Railroad Co
THURSDAY EVENING:
- 19:00 Floodhounds
- 20:30 Northern Citizens
FRIDAY ALL DAY:
- 13:00 Daniel Horsham
- 15:30 Eboney Jayne O’Brien
- 17:00 Kizia and the Kings
- 18:30 Soul Battalion
- 20:30 The Leptons
SATURDAY ALL DAY:
- 13:00 Jack T Harper
- 15:00 Maltby Miners Welfare Band
- 17:30 Matilda Shakes
- 19:00 Republic
- 20:30 Handsome Dan and the Mavericks
TUTORED TASTING EVENTS
- Champion Winter Beer of Britain competition tasting, led by Roger Protz – Wednesday 6:30pm and Thursday 2pm. Members £10, non-members £12. Six beers included.
- Brewed on the Union tasting, led by Roger Protz and Thornbridge brewers – Thursday 6pm. Members £10, non-members £12.
- Beer & Cheese tasting, led by Annabel Smith – Friday 2pm. Members £14, non-members £16. Five beers paired with cheese included.
- Beer & Music matching, led by Pete Brown who is publishing a book on the subject – Friday 6pm. Members £10, non-members £12.
Please note the price of the tasting event tickets quoted are just for the tasting, a festival entry ticket is also required.
LEARN & DISCOVER ZONE – BREWERY PARTNERS
Themed tasting flights will be available from the Learn & Discover Zone, served in partnership with the following brewery bars:
- Wednesday: Radio City Beer Works
- Thursday: Brew York
- Friday: Thornbridge Brewery
- Saturday: Abbeydale Brewery

