Category: Steel City Festival

The festival will feature around 200 different cask beers, and it is intended that all will be available from the start of the festival on Wednesday 21 October. Some will be served on handpump, some by gravity and some direct from brewery bars themselves. 

The beers will be located in the Upper Hall, the Marquee and the Guest Bar to the right after entering the museum. The latter will host beer from three breweries, a feature which proved very popular last year. These breweries are Black Lodge, Ticking Clock and Trig. It is hoped that staff from these breweries will be on hand to talk about their own beers and breweries. Cask beer will also be available in the Millowners Arms within the museum complex.

A feature of the festival is that we try to obtain cask beer from all current breweries that fall within the CAMRA Sheffield & District branch area, so expect to see about 16 Sheffield-area breweries represented with a cask beer.

As well as local beers, we are hoping to get a number of beers from Derbyshire microbreweries, some from the North East of England and some from Kent breweries.

St Mars of the Desert, a well-respected keg-only brewer in Sheffield has returned to Thornbridge Brewery to brew a collaboration cask beer on the Union system, and we hope to have a cask of that.

Three special beers are in the pipeline for this year. The first is in support of this year’s festival charity, Support Dogs, and the proceeds from the sale of this beer will be donated to that charity. The second marks our 50th beer festival, and the third is in memory of CAMRA stalwart, Alan Gibbons.

We also have two firsts for the festival this year.

We have held a homebrew competition, and the four finalists have already been chosen. The finalists’ beers are being scaled up and produced commercially by four local brewers – Blue Bee, Duality, Little Critters and Little Mesters.

In addition, for 2026 there will be a Women on Tap bar, which will be celebrating women in brewing by featuring seven different beers (three cask and four keg), all brewed by women at nearby breweries. Some of these brewsters will be on hand to talk about their beer as well as their experiences in the brewing industry.

Breweries in the branch area

• Abbeydale
• Blue Bee
• Bradfield
• Contour
• Dead Parrot
• Emmanuales
• Eyam
• Fuggle Bunny
• Intrepid
• Little Critters
• Little Mesters
• Loxley
• Neepsend
• St Mars of the Desert
• Stancill
• Tapped Brew Co
• Triple Point

Steel City Beer & Cider Festival celebrates its golden jubilee

Yes, the Steel City festival reaches its milestone 50th event this October, and we’ve lined up a few extra things to help celebrate. Here’s a rundown of everything you can expect when visiting Sheffield’s original and best beer festival.

200+ cask beers, 30+ ciders & perries, 80+ keg beers

Spread across four bar areas, we have a fantastic range of beer, cider and perries to offer. As well as the numerous one-off special beers, we have managed to get a few beers in wooden casks, and have also brought in some beers which were at the very first festival. St Mars of The Desert will be serving two beers from their very popular German Stichfass keg on Wednesday evening, and we’ll have some special ciders courtesy of The Old Shoe.

Guest Breweries

Our separate room featuring guest breweries proved a big hit last year, so we’ve added another bar this year. Ticking Clock Brewery from Shireoaks, Black Lodge Brewery from Liverpool and Trig Brewery from York will be bringing their own bars where you can try their beers and talk to their people. An exciting addition for 2026 is the Women On Tap bar, which will be celebrating women in brewing by featuring seven different beers all brewed by women at nearby breweries. Some of the brewsters will be on hand to talk about their beer as well as their experiences in the brewing industry.

Commemorative glasses

Of course you’ll need something to drink out of, and we have a fantastic new design on the two festival glasses. Here’s a preview to help you decide which to choose when you arrive.

NEW – Champion Homebrew of Sheffield competition.

For the first time, we are having a homebrew competition, and with the four finalists already chosen we can tell you that the standard is very high. The finalist’s beers are being scaled up and produced commercially by four local brewers – Little Critters, Little Mesters; Blue Bee and Duality. On the Wednesday night, we’ll be judging those four to see which is crowned Champion Homebrew of Sheffield. This will be presented as the same time as our regular Champion Beer Of Sheffield award.

Talks and tasting events

We’ve a variety of events to keep you entertained and informed. Well-known beer writer Pete Brown will be hosting his beer & music pairing session; Kelham Island Brewery will be talking about the history of the brewery and how it connects with Sheffield’s recent brewing past; Our ever-popular Heritage walk takes you through the history of the locality; Abbeydale Brewery will be hosting a guided tasting through a number of their beers; and Women On Tap founder Rachel Auty will be talking about the role of women in the beer industry.

Due to popular demand, we’ve increased the number of runs of the mighty River Don Steam Engine, giving visitors even more chance to experience it in action.

An interesting part of the Museum which is usually closed to festival-goers is the Hawley Tool collection, and we’re pleased to announce that this will be open on Thursday and Friday afternoon with Museum staff on hand to discuss the exhibits.

Music

We’ve brought back five of our favourites from previous year’s festivals so visitors on Thursday Friday and Saturday will have some top-quality music to keep them entertained. Highway Child, Soul Battalion, Loxley Silver Band and The 88’s will be playing in the Upper Hall, and Kelham Rapper will be popping up all over the venue with their riotous sword dancing.

Food stalls, CAMRA shop and Tombola stalls

You’ll be spoiled for choice when it comes to eating at the festival. Eight different stalls will be on site offering a variety of sweet and savoury treats including several vegetarian options. Our Tombola stall will be making it’s usual appearance giving visitors the chance to win some Finest Quality Merchandise and the CAMRA shop has a vast array of historical items recently gifted to us from members who have sadly passed away in the last year. A highlight of the shop though, will no doubt be our limited edition Henderson’s Relish bottles.

Charity

Our charity for this year is Support Dogs, who provide dogs to people for a variety of support needs. They will be bringing a few of their dogs to meet visitors on Thursday and Friday afternoon and will also have staff collecting for the charity at other times who will be happy to talk about the charity and the work it does.

Volunteers

And finally, a massive thank you to all our volunteers who help to organise and run the festival. It literally couldn’t happen without their hard work and enthusiasm. If you fancy joining our happy band, simply visit sheffield.camra.org.uk/scbf/ and scroll down to the volunteer section.

Steel City 50 Beer & Cider Festival

Where Are All the Women?

A tutored beer tasting and discussion: Rachel Auty, founder of Women On Tap CIC

1pm Saturday 24 October

tckty.camra.org.uk/e/589

Women’s involvement with beer dates back millennia. Throughout the 9,000-year history of fermented drinks, archaeologists and historians have charted the role of women, both in the production and sale of beer. For example, in Medieval Britain, it was women who took charge of the production of beer, both for consumption within the home and for commercial sale.

However, women remain significantly under-represented in beer – as makers, drinkers and buyers – and in some areas, the numbers are heading in the wrong direction. As Women On Tap CIC marks its 10th anniversary, founder Rachel Auty unpacks what’s driving that gap: from the barriers women face working in the industry to why so many still don’t see beer as ‘for them’.

She’ll share what Women On Tap is doing to change that – from bursaries breaking down financial barriers to entry, to events and initiatives designed to bring more women into beer, as drinkers, brewers and industry professionals. It’s a talk about why closing this gap matters – not just for equity, but for the future health of an industry we all love.

• You will be introduced to three beers, brewed by brewsters.
• Each beer will be served in a third-pint measure.
• The choice of beers will be finalised closer to the event.
• The selected beers will provide a variety of both beer styles and a range of strengths.
• This event will take place in the Power Room: over the bridge from the Upper Hall, then turn left.
• This tutored tasting is part of the Steel City 50 Beer & Cider Festival. There is an extra charge of £4 per person.
• You will need to enter the festival in advance of the tasting. This entry will incur the normal admission fee.

To celebrate our 50th festival, we’ve lined up some excellent music for you and brought back three of our absolute favourites from previous years. The festival takes place at Kelham Island Museum 21-24 October with music included from Thursday night onwards.

Highway Child – Thursday 22nd October 8pm

Formed in 2004 and boasting a classic rhythm section and a dynamic brass ensemble, the band’s sound is as big and as polished as the songs they play. With an extensive repertoire of classic songs from artists such as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and James Brown to mention but a few, Highway Child will get you dancing and keep you having fun all day and night.

Website – www.highwaychild.org.uk

Soul Battalion – Friday 23rd October 8pm

Soul Battalion deliver a world-class tribute to the golden age of Soul & Motown.

This dynamic 8 piece band presents a fully live show with powerhouse female vocals, a blazing horn section and a dynamic rhythm section.

Experience 32 dancefloor classics from The Supremes, Martha Reeves, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Gloria Jones, Frankie Valli, Tina Turner and more.

Get ready to dance, sing and relive the magic

Website – soulbattalion.com

The 88’s – Saturday 24th October 6.30pm

The 88’s are a classic rock covers band, influenced by 70’s and early 80’s rock, delivering a high octane performance. Their sound is soulful & accessible in equal parts, featuring songs from the likes of The Faces , Bad Company, Howling Wolf, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones and many more.

Muscular vocals, bluesy riffs & all your classic rock favourites. A barnstorming close to the festival.

Website – www.facebook.com/rocket88uk/

More information about our 50th Steel City Beer & Cider Festival can be found at Steel City 50 – CAMRA Sheffield & District

Three limited-edition mint sets of fourteen beer mats promoting the 50^th Sheffield Steel City Beer Festival (SCBF50) are to be auctioned on eBay. On one side of each mat is the SCBF50 logo, with the reverse carrying the sponsor. The first set went live on 21^st August: two other sets will follow at monthly intervals. Search eBay using SCBF50.

75,000 SCBF50 beer mats will be distributed in Sheffield, the surrounding area and wider afield. However, a full set is very unlikely to be seen in one place at any one time.

The fourteen sponsors are:

Breweries: Abbeydale, Acorn, Blue Bee, Bradfield, Chantry, Kelham Island Brewery , Peak, Stancill and Triple Point

Pubs: The Bankers Draft and the Sheffield Tap

Others: Abel Magnets, MKM Builders Merchant and Reyt Good Kitchens

Profits from these eBay sales will go to the official SCBF50 charity, Support Dogs. This small local charity relies heavily on the support of volunteers to make their life changing work possible. The charity trains autism assistance dogs, epilepsy seizure alert dogs and disability assistance dogs for those affected by a wide range of physical conditions including MS, Cerebral Palsy, fibromyalgia, and many more. The money raised will contribute to their vital work.

 SCBF50 will be held at Kelham Island Industrial Museum from 21-24 October 2026.

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 festival website.

There are still three sponsorship packages available for our Steel City Beer & Cider Festival at Kelham Island Museum this October. The event runs for four days attracting around 6,000 visitors in total.

The deal includes having the name of your business on display along with some free ticket packages that include entry, souvenir glass, printed programme, games voucher and a free pint of ale or cider.

Stillage Sponsor – £125 + VAT – gets you an A2 board with your company logo displayed on the stillage (the racking that holds the beer barrels behind the bar) along with three sponsor tickets.

Banner Sponsor – £100 + VAT – gets your advertising banner (up to 3 meters wide and 1 meter high) displayed in a prominent location in the festival venue along with two sponsor tickets.

Handpump or cask sponsor – £60 + VAT – gets your logo attached to either a cask end label (for a beer poured on gravity direct from the cask) or a handpump. Cask end labels are A4 sheets, cards attached to a handpump are A6. This also includes two sponsor tickets.

For more information please email sponsorship@sheffield.camra.org.uk.

Visitors to this year’s Steel City Beer & Cider Festival will have a great range of options for satisfying their hunger pangs whilst sampling some equally great beers. Here’s a rundown of what you can expect.

Courtyard

The courtyard by the Marquee features 4 hot food stalls.

Festival favourites Sunshine Pizzas will be serving up their usual mouth watering fresh pizzas, using organic slow-proved dough, cooked in a wood-fired oven. Vegetarian and vegan options available.

Yuleys Bratwurst need no introduction. These regular vendors at the festival offer German Pork Bratwurst, Smoked Ham Krakaver or cheese and ham Kaiserwurst, all cooked over charcoal.

Get the bold soulful flavours of Jamaican street foodfrom Carribean Fusion. Favourites such as Jerk Chicken, Curried Mutton, Fried Dumplings, and of course Rice & Peas are all cooked to traditional family recipes. Vegetarian curry also available.

Expect all your traditional chip shop favourites at Smith Fish & Chips. Cod, Haddock, Chips, Fishcakes, Sausages, Mushy Peas, Gravy, Curry Sauce, Bread Cake. With plenty of Salt & Vinegar obviously!

Upper Hall

Fairfax Distillers & Chocolatiers will satisfy your sweet tooth with their range of high quality, handmade chocolates. Try pairing them with one of their spirits, available to drink at the festival or to take home in bottles.

The Cheese Factor have a wealth of experience in selecting, sourcing, storing and serving the best of English and Continental cheeses, available in sandwiches, ploughman’s lunches, and Cheese and Biscuit platters.

Sheffield Legends Hendersons will have a stall selling their new range of crisps and other snacks all flavoured with their much-loved Relish. Dedicated fans will also be able to buy t-shirts or bobble hats to display their love of the famous spicy table sauce.

Stone Garden

At the back of the venue accessible through the Engine room, is the keg bar, and the Stone Courtyard. Taco Trailer will be serving proper, flavour packed tacos with a focus on quality, bold flavours, homemade fillings, and fresh tortillas.

The Steel City Beer & Cider Festival is at Kelham Island Museum in Sheffield 21-24 October. Visit www/sheffield.camra.org.uk/festival for full details

Support Dogs is our charity partner for Steel City Beer & Cider Festival

CAMRA Sheffield & District is delighted to announce Support Dogs as its charity partner for our 50th Steel City Beer & Cider Festival, being held at the atmospheric Kelham Island Museum from 21-24 October.

It’s a huge honour to have this pioneering and life-saving national charity, which is homegrown having been founded in Sheffield 34 years ago, as our beneficiary.

Support Dogs (charity number 1088281) is dedicated to providing life-changing health and social care for children and adults living with challenging medical conditions.

With a new national headquarters on Herries Road South, Hillsborough, it provides, trains and supports specialist assistance dogs to achieve this.

It offers three training programmes – autism assistance, disability assistance and epilepsy seizure alert – to help people live safer, more independent lives.

Disability assistance dogs are trained for people with physical disabilities. Here, the client’s own pet dog is trained to perform tasks both in and out of the home, which are specifically tailored to their individual needs, including dressing and undressing, opening doors and loading and unloading the washing machine.

Autism assistance dogs are trained to provide safety and to facilitate a more independent and socially inclusive life for both the autistic child and their family.

These wonderdogs can reduce stress for family members, provide safety and positive changes in behaviour, comfort when the child is upset and also help to reduce behavioural outbursts.

Epilepsy seizure alert dogs are trained to provide a 100% reliable warning up to one hour in advance of an oncoming seizure.

They give time for their owner to find a place of safety and privacy as they have their seizure. Support Dogs is the only organisation in the UK to provide and train seizure alert dogs.

Around 1,000 people with epilepsy die each year and research suggests that most of these deaths are sudden and unexpected.

The warning provided by a seizure alert dog means that a client can remove themselves from any danger and have a seizure in safety and privacy, giving them control over their seizure and allowing a much more independent life.

It can take over two years to train a support dog and each dog costs the charity around £29,000 to train and at least a further £3,000 a year to support throughout their eight-year working lives.

Yet the charity receives no government funding and relies solely on donations.

It’s not just Labradors who are trained – the charity has managed to turn breeds including sausage dogs, King Charles Spaniels and miniature Labradoodles into life-changing assistance dogs.

As well as its workforce of just over 40 staff members, Support Dogs relies heavily on its loyal army of 200 volunteers, which are deployed in roles varying from puppy socialisers, doggy foster carers and holiday cover carers to volunteer drivers and volunteer office admin.

Its amazing volunteers donate over 100,000 hours each year to help change lives across these roles.

CAMRA Sheffield & District has a toy support dog mascot whose name is Beer 26 who will be located in the Staff Office and on tour during the festival.

Collection buckets will be located around the festival if you’d like to chuck some cash in, alternatively you may wish to donate your refund on unspent beer tokens or returned souvenir glass.

Find out more about Support Dogs at www.supportdogs.org.uk and visit https://sheffield.camra.org.uk/2026/04/steel-city-beer-cider-festival-5 for more details on the beer festival.

Our 50th Steel City Beer & Cider Fesitval will be taking place 21-24 October 2026. Once again the festival is being held at the atmospheric Kelham Island Museum, a venue full of character with bars, food vendors, games, live music and more spread across several areas including the upper hall, Victorian courtyard and Stone Garden.

The bars will all together boast a range of about 200 cask ales, all of which we aim to have on sale on the first night and available until they run out, along with a list of 70 other craft beers in keg which will be on rotation. There will also be 30 different ciders and perries to try.

We have a programme of special talks, tours and tastings you can choose to add to your festival experience as an optional extra and these are now available to book.

• Wednesday 19:00 – Beer & Music pairing with Pete Brown: Join award-winning beer writer and broadcaster Pete Brown for a one-of-a-kind audio-visual beer tasting experience, based on the fascinating research behind his latest book – Tasting Notes: The art and science of pairing beer and music.

• Thursday 11:30 – Little Chicago: A guided historical walk in Sheffield’s Little Chicago Quarter. We 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,’ with a narrative explaining how Sheffield briefly became the most turbulent city in Britain because of an escalating gang war involving the Park Brigade, Mooney Gang, the Gas Tank Gang and many others. The walk will be led by ‘Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs’ editor, Dave Pickersgill and local historian and writer, John Stocks.

• Thursday 17:00 – Kelham Island Brewery: This talk will be led by four key members of the team at Kelham Island Brewery: Tom Clay (Sales & Brand Director) and three of the Owner/Directors: Jim Harrison, James O’Hara and Simon Webster. The presenters will look back to the history of the Fat Cat and Kelham Island Brewery, lauding the pioneering work of Dave Wickett and celebrating the long-term influences of both the pub and the brewery on todays UK Indie beer scene before looking to the future.

• Thursday 19:00 – Abbeydale Brewery: A tutored beer tasting and discussion led by experts from the oldest established brewery in Sheffield, which as of 2024 is wholly employee owned. This event will explore the depth and breadth of the Abbeydale range as they celebrate their 30th anniversary. Last year (2025) Abbeydale produced over 200 Bbl./week of which over 75% was cask. They produce at least one new beer each week, including both the Funk Dungeon and Dr.Morton’s brands. The latter is a tribute to the owners with the former highlighting their barrel ageing project.

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