Category: Steel City Festival

These can be booked in advance: follow the QR codes to the booking site.

1. Guided walk – Little Chicago – Thursday

you will explore Sheffield’s Little Chicago Quarter before your fast-track entry to our Beer Festival. Led by local author, John Stocks and editor of ‘Sheffield’s Real Heritage pubs,’ Dave Pickersgill, you will explore the beer, social and Industrial heritage of the area. The walk will explore streets that feature in John’s book ‘Sheffield 1925: Gang Wars and Wembley Glory,’ and also explore the beer, social and Industrial heritage of the area.

The comfortable walk, with one minor ascent, is just over a mile. It will last for approximately 90 minutes before concluding at Kelham Island Museum for a post-walk drink and discussion.

• Tutored tasting – Bradfield Brewery – Thursday

A tutored beer tasting (five beers) and discussion led by the three brewers (Kieran Chadwick, Sam Jubb and Bruce Woodcock) from one of the largest breweries in Sheffield. The second oldest Sheffield brewery, Bradfield were established in 2005 on a farm situated in the Peak District countryside. The beers to be sampled are:

• Farmers Blonde (cask, 4.0%), the best seller. This beer was created 20 years ago and has been the best seller since. This award winning, very pale brilliant blonde beer has citrus and summer fruit aromas making it an extremely refreshing ale.

• Farmers Jack O Lantern (cask, 4.5%).  The October seasonal ale. An amber coloured, lightly hopped ale.

• Farmers Brown Cow (cask, 4.2%). One of the core range, that’s been around since Bradfield’s first year of brewing.
• Farmers Milk Stout (cask). This beer has not been brewed before. A Milk Stout has been in the pipeline for a while and Bradfield thought this was the ideal year to bring it to the table.

• and finally, Belted Galloway Stout (bottled, 8.4%). A decadent Stout brewed with a variety of speciality malts then barrel aged for 8 months in Scottish Whiskey barrels. It delivers rich cocoa and sweet dark fruit aromas and flavours up front, leading into warm whisky, sherry and oak notes with a silky smooth finish. England Country winner (Flavoured beer, wood aged) at the 2025 World Beer Awards.

• Pub Heritage Talk – Little Chicago – Friday

Delivered by Dave & John, this short pub heritage talk will concentrate on the Little Chicago area of Sheffield, taking you back from the 19^th century and up to the current day. Along the way, mention will be made of the 1884 ‘Sheffield Drinks Map,’ the establishment of a coaching inn and the Sheffield pub with the most CAMRA awards.

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Steel City 49 – Sponsorship opportunities 

October sees the return  of our ever-popular Beer & Cider Festival at Kelham Island Museum. Taking place over 4 days from Wednesday15th to Saturday 18^th, we are expecting over 5,000 to come and sample the very best in Real Ale, Real Cider and Craft Beer. Street Food, talks, tastings, and demonstrations add to the atmosphere and make this one of the highlights of the Sheffield beer scene.

Full details can be found on our website = www.sheffield.camra.org.uk/festival

Local businesses and individuals can get involved by taking advantage of some of the  sponsorship opportunities still available. All options come with a number of sponsor tickets which include FREE entry; FREE festival glass; FREE pint; FREE programme & a FREE go on the pub games. All sponsors are also named in our programme, have their logo (and link) on our website, and feature on the sponsor posters at the festival.

Here’s what on offer.

Stillage Sponsor

An A2 board featuring your logo, attached to the top of one of the stillage racks.

£125 + vat. Includes 3 Sponsor tickets

Banner Sponsor

Your banner hung in a prominent place at the festival. Banners can be any size up to 3m wide and 1m high.

£100 + vat. Includes 2 Sponsor tickets

Cask Sponsor

A4 sheet with your logo attached to one of the casks on the rear stillages.

£60 + vat. Includes 2 Sponsor tickets

Handpump sponsor

A6 card with your logo attached to one of the handpumps on the front of the bars.

£60 + vat. Includes 2 Sponsor tickets

Email Paul Crofts at sponsorship@sheffield.camra.org.uk for more details.

Three limited-edition sets of 13 mint beer mats promoting the 49th Sheffield Steel City Beer Festival (SCBF49) are to be auctioned on eBay. On one side of each mat is the SCBF49 logo, with the reverse carrying the sponsor. The first set went live on 15^th August: two other sets will follow at monthly intervals: search eBay using SCBF49.

There are 75,000 SCBF49 beer mats available. Over the next few months, these will be distributed over 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 sponsors are:

• Breweries: Abbeydale, Ashover, Blue Bee, Bradfield, Chantry, Ossett, Peak, Tapped, Thornbridge and Triple Point
• Non-breweries: Abel Magnets, MKM Builders Merchant and Reyt Good Kitchens

Profits from the eBay sales will go to the official SCBF49 charity, Sheffield Children’s Hospital. The money raised will contribute to life-saving equipment, research and treatment for thousands of children and also help to create a comfortable, engaging environment for patients.

 The festival will be held at Kelham Island Industrial Museum from 15-18 October.

https://sheffieldchildrens.org/ https://sheffield.camra.org.uk/festival/

Again we have a programme of talks, tours and tastings available as an optional extra for your Steel City Beer & Cider Festival experience. Please book your place in advance online then simply pay for your festival entry on the gate as normal.

These can be booked in advance: follow the QR codes to the booking site.

1. Guided walk – Little Chicago – Thursday

A guided walk with a difference – you will explore Sheffield’s Little Chicago Quarter before your fast-track entry to our Beer Festival. Led by local author, John Stocks and editor of ‘Sheffield’s Real Heritage pubs,’ Dave Pickersgill, you will explore the beer, social and Industrial heritage of the area. The walk will explore streets that feature in John’s book ‘Sheffield 1925: Gang Wars and Wembley Glory,’ and also explore the beer, social and Industrial heritage of the area.

The comfortable walk, with one minor ascent, is just over a mile. It will last for approximately 90 minutes before concluding at Kelham Island Museum for a post-walk drink and discussion.

• Tutored tasting – Bradfield Brewery – Thursday

A tutored beer tasting (five beers) and discussion led by experts from one of the largest breweries in Sheffield. The second oldest Sheffield brewery, Bradfield were established in 2005 on a farm situated in the Peak District countryside.

• Pub Heritage Talk – Little Chicago – Friday

Delivered by Dave & John, this short pub heritage talk will concentrate on the Little Chicago area of Sheffield, taking you back from the 19^th century and up to the current day. Along the way, mention will be made of the 1884 ‘Sheffield Drinks Map,’ the establishment of a coaching inn and the Sheffield pub with the most CAMRA awards.

We are pleased to announce this years festival is taking place at Kelham Island Museum from 15 to 18 October.

It will offer a range of around 200 cask ales spread across three bars plus a list of around 50 other craft beers rotating on the taps in our keg bar. Our traditional cider & perry bar will offer a choice of around 30 plus hopefully some locally produced mead too. New this year you will be able to use card payment (including Apple/Google contactless) to pay for drinks at the bars as you go. Alternatively we will still be doing bar tokens which you can buy using cash or card.

As usual we’ll have a range of street food traders to satisfy your hunger plus the old skool pub games in the marquee and the tombola upstairs to keep you amused (and there are prizes to be won!).

On the Wednesday we’ll be judging the champion beer of Sheffield & District with all the local brewers based in the City and our part of the Peak District invited to enter a cask ale, we’ll announce the winner early on in the evening. On Thursday evening our friends from Bradfield Brewery will be hosting a tutored tasting event (advance booking required) whilst for those interested in local history our pub heritage officer Dave Pickersgill and local historian John Stocks will be hosting some talks and tours themed on the “Little Chicago” booklet on Thursday and Friday. Again advance booking is required.

From Thursday onwards we have a programme of live music planned – Thursday evening is Mari Wild and the Reprobates, Friday evening is Soul Battalion then Saturday afternoon we have Loxley Silver Band, Kelham Island Rapper (dancers) and Blyth Power.

With the bars taking card payments we are no longer bundling bar tokens in with the admission – the entry fee is £5 on Thursday and £7 on Friday and Saturday with free admission offered on Wednesday. You’ll also need to get a festival glass for £3, you can keep this as a souvenir or return it for a refund when you leave.There will be a printed programme available containing the beer and cider list for £1 or you can find all the details online at sheffield.camra.org.uk/sc.

The charity collection this year will be for the Sheffield Childrens’ Hospital Charity. You can chuck cash donations and unspent bar tokens in the buckets to help this worthy cause.

The festival opening hours is Wednesday 5pm to 10:30pm, Thursday/Friday 11:30am to 10:30pm and Saturday 11am to 9pm. Nearest tram stop is Shalesmoor or there are bus stops on Nursery Street and Gibraltar Street. It is also walkable from the City Centre and the Kelham Island district has some fantastic pubs forming a buzzing unofficial festival fringe!

TALKS AND TOURS – SCAN THE QR CODE TO BOOK…

Events at the forthcoming Steel City Beer Festival will include a walk, a talk and a tutored tasting. Following previous successes, local author John Stocks and our Pub Heritage Officer, Dave Pickersgill will be leading a guided walk in Little Chicago on Thursday morning and staging the associated talk on Friday afternoon.

In addition, as part of their 20th anniversary celebrations, Bradfield Brewery will be leading a tutored tasting on the Thursday evening, presenting both core brews and oak-aged beers. Advance tickets for all events will be available nearer the time.

The festival is planned to take place 15-18 October at Kelham Island Museum featuring a huge range of cask ales, a selection of other craft beers in keg plus traditional ciders alongside street food vendors and a programme of live music. The special events including tutored tastings, talks and tours are optional extras to add to your festival experience!

The organisers of the recent Steel City Beer & Cider Festival would like to thank the following for donating items to the festival tombola and to sell for this year’s festival charity – the Weston Park Cancer Charity :-  Ruth Grimsley, Phil Bayliss, Liz Aspden, Pete Roberts, AleChemist Brewery, Abbeydale Brewery, Docks Beers, Blue Bee Brewery, Kelham Island Tavern, Peak Ales, Paul Crofts, Sheffield Tap, Ossett Brewery, Contour Beer, Terry Palmer, MKM Building Supplies, Fairfax Chocolates, Bradfield Brewery, Les Greenwood, Thornbridge Brewery and everyone who donated anonymously.  Apologies if we have missed anyone.

Thanks to everyone at the festival who supported Weston Park Cancer Charity (WPCC). Your generosity produced a record charity donation from the Steel City Beer Festival – a whopping £2700.00 – a donation rate of £1.20/minute!

This magnificent sum includes loose change, unused beer tokens, eBay sales of three full sets of SCBF48 beer mats and net proceeds from the charity beer. Thanks to everyone who contributed and thanks again to Abbeydale Brewery for providing the charity beer, ‘Together at Every Step,’ a 4.3% abv dry hopped pale ale.

 As Festival Organiser, Paul Crofts said, ‘It’s a fantastic sum to raise for such a good charity. It was far more than we predicted and shows how much local people appreciate the work of Weston Park.’

Sam Heritage, WPCC Fundraising Manager said, ‘we are very grateful for your generous support and for making our team of volunteers and staff, plus Brontë feel so welcome. I’ve had amazing feedback on just how brilliant it has all been …. it really will make such a difference.’

The festival was formally opened by local legend, and South Yorkshire firefighter, Brontë Jones. WPCC supporter, Brontë, was runner-up in the 2024 series of the prime-time BBC TV programme, Gladiators.

Located in Sheffield, Weston Park Hospital is the main cancer treatment centre for South Yorkshire and large parts of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. In the UK, around 1,000 cancers are diagnosed every day.

WPCC is here to face cancer with you. Their services, advice, therapies and support are for you and the people close to you, helping everyone to live with, and beyond, cancer.

Contact:  0114 553 3330   westonpark.org.uk

Photos: Dave Pickersgill (SCBF48) and Hannah Watson (WPCC)

The weather smiled on the Steel City Beer & Cider Festival this year, and brought in the crowds for another successful festival.

Bronte Jones did the honours with the official opening. A local firefighter and a recent finalist on Gladiators, Bronte has been working with our chosen charity, Weston park Cancer charity to raise funds. Shown here with Paul Manning the Chairman of the Sheffield & district branch of CAMRA.

Abbeydale brewery produced a special charity beer “Together at Every Step” to raise even more money for Weston Park. A dry-hopped pale ale which we’re pleased to say sold out!

Abbeydale also hosted a beer tasting event held by Jim & Laura Rangeley, which focused on the history of the brewery and it’s recent move to become an Employee Ownership Trust.

Andy & Philippa Morton with their beer goggles on. A perfect example of the “Finest Quality Merchandise” on offer at the Tombola stall. 

Wednesday evening saw our annual Beer Of The Festival award taking place. Each Sheffield brewery put forward a beer and a series of blind tastings arrived at the winners. This year’s winners were

1^st – Tapped Brew Co. American Flyer. An American brown ale

2^nd – Triple Point Brewery. Debut. A new-style IPA.

3^rd – Little Critters Brewing Co. Vanilla Chinchilla. Vanilla Ice Cream Porter.

Dan & Martha from St Mars of the Desert brought a Stichfass cask of their traditional old ale ‘Owd Eerie’, which managed to sell out in under 30 minutes!

A variety of street food stalls kept the visitors fed throughout the festival with a number of delicious options.

Thursday saw The Tigermen take to the stage with some rousing rhythm & blues.

Friday night’s entertainment was the excellent Highway Child, back for their third appearance at the festival

Loxley Silver band returned for their ever-popular usual Saturday afternoon slot. A particular highlight was the haunting ‘Gresford’, written in 1936 to commemorate the Gresford Colliery mining disaster in Wrexham where 266 miners lost their lives.

Throughout Saturday, sword dancing mayhem was provided by local favourites Kelham Rapper and Sheffield Steel Rapper. No area of the festival was left untouched by their lively performances (No, we don’t know how they do it without injuring themselves either)

On 3 of the days the mighty Rover Don engine was in operation to the delight of the visitors lucky enough to get in the room before it was full.

The cider team in jolly mood. (We don’t know if this was before or after they tried the 13% mead from local producer Paradise Garage!)

The staff at the Keg Bar had a very busy festival as usual, and obviously all enjoying it. Even Josh from Kelham Island Tavern was smiling! The tall chap at the back wasn’t much help though.

A familiar face! Sean Clarke, former owner of Beer Central working behind the bar in the Upper Hall.

A lively afternoon in the Upper Hall.

Overall, another great festival. Thanks as ever go to all the volunteers who showed up and put in all the hard work to make it happen. And of course to all our visitors who came along to enjoy it.

It’s a couple of well-earned months off now for the planning committee before we start the process again in January. We’re always keen for new people to join the team, so feel free to email us if you’d like more info.

Sheffield and District CAMRA are again using eBay to invite bids for three full sets of beermats which advertise the forthcoming beer festival. All proceeds will be donated to the festival charity, Weston Park Cancer Care (WPCC). 

The full set for 2024 consists of nine mats, sponsored by Abbeydale Brewery, Abel Magnets, Blue Bee Brewery, Bradfield Brewery, Chantry Brewery, Heist Brewery, MKM Builders Merchants, Peak Brewery and Triple Point Brewery. 

To make your bids, search, on eBay,  using SCBF48.