10 Best Beer Festivals in The World
By: Christy

1- OktoberFest - Munich, Germany

The Oktoberfest is a two-week festival held each year in Munich, Germany during late September and early October. It is attended by six million people each year and has inspired numerous similar events using the name Oktoberfest in Germany and around the world, many of which were founded by German immigrants or their descendants.

2- The Great British Beer Festival

The festival is usually held during the first full week in August and runs from Tuesday to Saturday. The Tuesday afternoon session is only open to the trade and press, with the Champion Beer Of Britain award winners being announced mid-afternoon. The general public are admitted to afternoon and evening sessions from Tuesday evening until Saturday evening. CAMRA figures show that in 2006, over 66,000 people visited the festival over the course of the week and consumed some 350,000 pints of beer - one pint sold in less than half of every open second.

GBBF is styled as the "biggest pub in the world" and offers around 450 beers from British breweries, as well as around 200 foreign beers from countries including Belgium, Germany and the USA. Traditional British cider and perry is also available. The festival is completely staffed by unpaid volunteers, around 1000 of whom work at the festival.

3- The Gäubodenvolksfest - Germany

The Gäubodenvolksfest is a modern and family friendly festival with about 120 carousels, roller coasters and six big beer tents with 24.000 seats at an area of about 90.000 m²., but it has upheld its traditional character. Many of the about 1.2 million visitors wear Bavarian costume ("Trachten").

The festival combines Bavarian tradition with progress and vitality. It is one of Bavaria's oldest and most popular festivals and it has increased to one of the biggest events in Germany. Beer plays a central role in the fair. The beer is specially brewed. Only breweries fromStraubing or the district Straubing-Bogen are allowed to serve beer there.

On the first day of the festival there is a "Bierprobe", that means "trying of the beer" and a parade with 2,000 participants in native cloths on foot, on horses or horse carriages.

4- Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest is an annual nine-day festival in the twin cities of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Based on the original German Oktoberfest, it is billed as Canada's Greatest Bavarian Festival. It is held every October, starting on the Friday before Canadian Thanksgiving and running until the Saturday after.

The twin cities and surrounding area have a long history of German roots; Kitchener was formerly named Berlin. A large portion of the population identify themselves as being of German heritage, and many still speak German well. A common phrase at the celebrations is Gemütlichkeit, German for congeniality, or warm friendliness. This word is even programmed into the bus route displays, so during Oktoberfest it will show the route and Gemütlichkeit, or Willkommen.

5- The Mondial de la Bière

The Mondial de la Bière is a large beer festival that takes place each year in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Stands are placed for beer from all over the world. Most breweries there are micro-breweries which produce their product in small quantities, for regional sale, and sometimes for use exclusively in a restaurant annexed to the brewery. Some larger breweries are present, but in small number.

6- The Great Canadian Beer Festival - Victoria, British Columbia,Canada

GCBF is Canada’s longest running beer festival and the largest selection of craft only beers available anywhere in the country.

Every year on the first weekend after Labour Day over 40 craft breweries from across Canada and the Pacific North-western USA and more than 7000 happy people come together in the beautiful city of Victoria to celebrate the diversity of the brewers craft.

7- The Great World Beer Fest - NYC, USA

The Great World Beer Fest (GWBF), originally known as “Brewtopia” was established in 2002 and is the longest running, largest beer festival in New York City. Billed as the "United Nations of Beer,” GWBF features brewers from around the world in a fun, competitive, and most importantly, prominent festival designed to increase the public's awareness of craft beers. Traditionally held the last weekend in October, the GWBF welcomes an average of 15,000 beer enthusiasts over a two-day 3-session period.

8- The Bergkirchweih - Germany

The Bergkirchweih is an annual fair and beer festival in Erlangen, Germany. Locals nickname it Berch, which is the Franconian pronunciation of the German word Berg, meaning mountain or hill.

The Bergkirchweih starts on the Thursday before Pentecost at 5PM. The opening ceremony called "Anstich", which is carried out by the town's mayor, takes place in a different beer cellar every year. Thousands gather to watch the opening spectacle hoping to get one of the free beers from the first barrel. Twelve days later the last beer barrel is buried in the cellar where the next Anstich will take place. The Bergkirchweih area is located in the northern extremities of the town of Erlangen and is roughly a kilometer long (0.6 mi). It contains beer cellars, booths and rides - a huge Ferris wheel is the Berch's traditional landmark.

With its wooden benches under elms, chestnuts and oaks it is the biggest Open-Air-Biergarten of Europe with more than 11,000 seats.

The Bergkirchweih has taken place since 1755. Nowadays the time when the fair takes place is called the "fifth season". Roughly a million people - about ten times the town's population - visit the event, making the Bergkirchweih the third biggest fair in Bavaria after the Oktoberfest in Munich and the Gäubodenvolksfest in Straubing.

9- The Tasmanian Beerfes - Australia

The Tasmanian Beerfest is held in Hobart on the 2nd Saturday of November. Showcasing over 100 boutique and Premium Beers Hobart Regatta Grounds.In its 3rd year in 2008 around 10,000 people tasted over 100 different beers from around the world.

10- The Cambridge Beer Festival

The summer Cambridge Beer Festival is the longest running CAMRA beer festival in the United Kingdom having started in 1974. It is held at the end of May just before the WhitsuntideBank Holiday. Its companion Winter Beer Festival, held in January, began in 1997. Both are run by Cambridge & District CAMRA.

The beer festival is also famous for its cheese stall which, unlike many food stalls at beer festivals, is run by the CAMRA branch themselves. The stall sells a wide range of traditional cheeses and breads as well as olives, pickled eggs, pork pies, scotch eggs, etc.