We’re back at the wonderfully atmospheric Kelham Island Museum from 16 to 19 October 2024 with a huge range of cask ales and keykeg craft beers, artisan cider and perry, street food vendors, traditional pub games and live entertainment.
The event is organised and staffed entirely by volunteers on behalf of the Sheffield & District branch of the Campaign for Real Ale who do it to share their love of beer or cider and are passionate about having such an event in Sheffield.
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Volunteers
Our festival is entirely organised, run and staffed by volunteers.
Although as a volunteer doing it for the love of the event you don’t get paid, there are some perks including a free drinks allowance (cask ale, cider and perry), staff t-shirt, buffet for those that work the takedown day and an invite to a reunion social trip to Nottingham.
While we need plenty of bar staff, there are other jobs too, including admissions, glass washing, selling tokens and programmes, selling merchandise, selling membership, admin roles, hosting the games and more.
To volunteer, please complete the staffing form.
Sponsors
We still have sponsorship opportunities! If you want to promote your business at the festival and help support our event please get in touch at sponsorship@sheffield.camra.org.uk.
A huge thank you to all of this year’s sponsors:
Admission
Times and prices
We don’t sell advance tickets, pay on the gate with cash or card.
| Day | Open | Close | Non-members | CAMRA members |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WED 16 | 17:00 | 22:30 | £13 | £13 |
| THU 17 | 11:30 | 22:30 | £17 | £15 |
| FRI 18 | 11:30 | 22:30 | £20 | £16 |
| SAT 19 | 11:00 | 21:00 | £20 | £16 |
What’s included
- Entry to the festival
Including live music performances. - Commemorative glass
Choice of pint or half pint. To use and keep as a souvenir or return for a £3 refund. - £10 token card
For the festival bars, tombola and games.
Optional extras
- Programme (£1)
Containing the beer and cider list. Available from the entrance and token desks. - Talks and tutored tasting events (see event guide below)
Advance booking recommended (any remaining tickets will be sold on the door).
Children
Accompanied children are welcome on site until 8pm, after which it is strictly over 18s only.
Dogs
Kelham Island Museum do not allow dogs on site except for registered assistance dogs.
Re-admission
If you want to leave the festival and come back later the same day, please ask for a readmission wristband before you leave. Note readmission is not guaranteed, for example if the venue is at capacity.
Venue
Site Plan
Desks for general and sponsor admissions can be found at the Entrance on the museum gates.
From here, head into the building on the right and turn right for the Bradfield Brewery bar in the Brearley Room, or left and up the stairs or lift then across the bridge for the Upper Hall with cask ale, can and bottle beer, cider, perry, snacks, tokens desk, CAMRA membership and shop, live music, and the tombola.
To the right at the top of the stairs (or left from the lift) is the Power Room where talks and tasting events will be held.
Straight ahead from the Entrance is the Courtyard where you’ll find hot food traders and, round to the left, the main Toilets. Also on the left, to the back, is the Marquee with cask ale, can and bottle beer, cider, perry, tokens desk and games. On the right is the Millowners Arms, an independent pub serving a range of drinks and food.
At the far end of the Courtyard past the Marquee, is the Engine Room with the steam-powered River Don Engine that will run at set times during the festival.
Keg beer is in the Crucible Room with seating available in the Stone Garden. New this year will be a food trader in this area. To access this area walk through the Engine Room and the Hawley Gallery.
The Glass Return area is on the right as you approach the entrance gates when leaving.
Drinks
2023 lists
We’ve not yet finalised our 2024 beer and cider lists. You can take a look at last year’s lists below to give an idea of what to expect.
Cask Beer
We’ll have over 200 beers in a broad range of styles from both local favourites and brewers across the UK.
Beer from breweries A-H can be found in the Upper Hall and I-Z in the Marquee.
Some Bradfield Brewery beers will be on the main bar with a larger range on their own bar in the Brearley Room.
Cider & Perry
We anticipate to have around 30 ciders and perries ranging from dry to sweet, traditional and flavoured, but all from proper natural products #NotFromConcentrate.
They’ll be served in the Upper Hall and/or Marquee as indicated on the list.
Keykeg Beer
Around 50 keg beers will be available over the course of the festival in the Crucible Room.
Bottles & Cans
A selection of beers from the UK and further afield will be in the Upper Hall and Marquee.
Token cards
The bars only accept tokens for payment.
The bar tokens come as £5 cards, 20p sections of which will be crossed off as you spend.
£10 of tokens are included in the admission package to get you started. When you need more there are desks around the venue selling them and any unspent credit can either be refunded (up to a maximum of £10) or donated to charity. You can buy bar tokens using cash or card payment.
Using tokens helps our volunteers serve quicker and provides security in not having cash or card machines around the bars.
Glasses and dispense
All drinks are served into your personal glass so keep hold of it! Self service glass rinsing stations are available around the venue to use between drinks if required or you are welcome to exchange it for a clean one at the glass return desk if neccesary.
Some beers are served on handpump or tap while others are gravity poured direct from the cask.
Draught beer, cider and perry is served in a choice of pint, half pint and third measures.
Labels
Every beer will have an A4 label displayed on the bar telling you about the beer including the price, strength and allergen information. Please ask the volunteer serving you if unsure.
Cider, perry and beers in cans or bottles will also have labels on the bar.
Soft drinks
A basic range of soft drinks and drinking water is available free of charge from a dedicated table next to the cider bar.
Other non-alcoholic drinks along with wines and spirits are available to buy from the Millowners Arms and other independent traders.
Champion Beer of Sheffield 2023
This competition is judged via a blind tasting event on Wednesday afternoon. The 2023 winners are below (watch this space for the 2024 winners when announced):
GOLD
Heist The Bad Part of Gnome Town
A hazy session pale.
SILVER
Tapped Brew Co Brook
A porter.
BRONZE
Little Critters Great Danish
A premium strength pecan and maple stout.
Events
Champion Beer
WED
18:00
Wednesday evening kicks off in the Upper Hall with our judging panels’ choices for Champion Beer of Sheffield, presented by festival organiser, Paul Crofts. Sponsored by Beer Central.
Talks and tastings
We have some great guests hosting talks and tasting sessions in the Power Room. Some tickets may be available on the door but booking is recommend.
THU
Guided walk:
Little Chicago
THU 11:30
Tickets for our first event are now available: 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, examining the myths and reality of 1925, a tumultuous year in Sheffield’s history. The walk will explore streets that feature in John’s book Sheffield 1925: Gang Wars and Wembley Glory, and 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 the festival and a post-walk drink and discussion.
Tutored tasting:
Abbeydale Brewery
THU 19:00
A tutored beer tasting and discussion led by experts from the oldest established brewery in Sheffield – award winning brewer Jim Rangeley and Marketing Manager Laura. This event will explore the depth and breadth of the Abbeydale range and will include cask, keg and, from the Funk Dungeon, Blood Orange Sour (6.0%).
FRI
Pub heritage talk:
Little Chicago
FRI 16:30
This free event is a short pub heritage talk which will concentrate on the Little Chicago area of Sheffield, taking you back from the 19th 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.
It will also act as a launch event for a new Sheffield Pub Heritage walk booklet.
Entry if free but please book in advance.
Live music
Bob Swift has planned a great programme of live music for the Upper Hall.
THU
FRI
Kelham Island Rapper
The rapper team will be performing around the festival. Facebook
SAT
Various times
Engine demos
The Engine Room houses the River Don Engine, Europe’s most powerful working steam engine which is due to run at set times during the festival. *Times to be confirmed.
THU
18:30*
FRI
13:00*
18:00*
SAT
13:00*
16:30*
Food
Various food vendors can be found around the festival. These are independent traders and will generally accept cash or card payment.
Hot Food
Courtyard
- Sunshine Pizza Oven (freshly baked with organic slow proved dough in a wood-fired oven)
- Yuleys Bratwurst (sausages yule love – complete with the traditional German trimmings)
- Flippin ‘eck! Pancake Bar (offering a choice of both sweet and savoury toppings)
- Caribbean Fusion (flavourful authentic Jamaican street food)
Stone Garden
- Gouda For The Soul (grilled cheese sandwiches)
Cold Snacks
Upper Hall
- Helen’s Bakery (pasties, sausage rolls and sandwiches)
- Fairfax Chocolatiers (chocolate – plus their signature spirits if you fancy a cheeky shot!)
Pub Food
Food is also available in the Millowners Arms pub.
Millowners
Independent Pub
The Millowners Arms pub will be within the festival site and open exclusively to festival visitors, operating normally as an independent trader serving food and drink. They accept card payment only (not festival tokens or cash).
Fringe
Pubs, Bars, Restaurants
There are loads of pubs, bars and restaurants a short walk away in Kelham Island and Neepsend. Check out our online pub guide.
Transport
Tram
The closest tram stop is Shalesmoor, served by Yellow and Blue routes towards Middlewood and Malin Bridge.
Trams run from the City Centre and Hillsborough about every six minutes in the daytime, every 15 in the evening, up to midnight.
Direct journeys are also available from Halfway plus various park & ride car parks – check the Supertram website for more information.
Bus
There are two sets of bus stops a short walk away: Shalesmoor Allen Street/Ebeneezer Street served by routes 57/57a, 81, 82 and 86, and Nursery Street (by the Harlequin pub) served by routes 7/8 and 75/75a.
Also not too far away during the daytime (until 7pm) is the Sheffield Connect bus SC2 which stops at Millsands. This is a free service shuttling every 20 minutes on a figure of 8 route between the bus and rail station, Moorfoot, Castle Square tram stop and Millsands.
Timetables and route maps are available from Travel South Yorkshire or times for specific stops with live tracking on a map is available from bustimes.org.
Train
Sheffield railway station is served by trains operated by Northern, Transpennine Express, Cross Country and East Midlands Railway. From the station you can catch the Blue route tram to Shalesmoor, which is about five minutes walk from the venue. Board the trams at the back of the station. Alternatively leave the station via the main concourse and cross the road to the bus interchange where you can catch bus 57/57a, 95/95a or SC2 (see above).
Taxi
The main taxi companies are Uber, Bolt and Veezu. All have apps to book and pay for rides with Veezu also offering the option to book by phone (0114 239 3939) and pay the driver cash.
Hackney carriage (black cabs) are widely available in the City Centre without booking and can usually be flagged down on the main road around Shalesmoor. They also have a taxi rank at the railway station. Note they are generally cash only.
Charity
Weston Park Cancer Charity
Profits from the beer festival go towards the cost of CAMRA’s campaigning activity, however we also raise money for a local charity each year with collection buckets around the venue.
If you have unspent credit on your bar token cards, you may also choose to donate them to the charity.
Our chosen charity for SCBF48 is Weston Park Cancer Charity. In the UK, around 1,000 cancers are diagnosed every day. Weston Park Hospital is the main cancer treatment centre for South Yorkshire and large parts of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
The charity funds research, enhances treatment and offers free advice, support and practical help for patients, and their families, as they live with, and beyond, cancer. Help can include support with emotions, symptoms and/or side effects; short courses; financial and legal advice; complementary therapies to alleviate effects; and much more.
Please support this vital local charity: all donations, including glass deposits and unused beer tokens, are gratefully received.
Representatives from Weston Park Cancer Charity will be joining us for the festival opening on Wednesday with a special guest to be photographed pulling a pint – read more here!
Beermats
We’ve produced promotional beermats supported by a number of sponsors. Look out for them when out and about!
Press and Trade
A little bit of information on the festival, the CAMRA branch that organises it and our media policy is in the document below.
We’ll be running a guest list for early admission from 4pm on Wednesday for trade and media, the festival opens to the public from 5pm. Please email using the address below to arrange.
On the Wednesday at 6pm we have an opening ceremony and announce the winners of our Champion Beer of Sheffield competition.
If you are a student wanting to get a little more involved and immersed you may wish to work as a volunteer at the festival, please see the volunteering section above and fill in the staffing form. We especially need staff for late shift and for set up / take down.
Please email any press enquiries to press@sheffield.camra.org.uk.