Britain's biggest beer festival, held last month in Birmingham, scrapped following heavy losses
Britain's biggest beer festival, which was last month held in Birmingham, will be scrapped next year after making a 'substantial' loss.
Thousands of people flocked to Great British Beer Festival at the NEC, the first time it had been held outside of London since 1990.
But chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), Ash Corbett-Collins, said the five-day event had failed to generate sufficient revenue to cover its costs.
The Great British Winter Beer Festival, which was this year held in Rotherham in February, has also been cancelled indefinitely.
Mr Corbett-Collins said Camra had faced severe financial challenges since the coronavirus pandemic, and the losses from the festivals were unsustainable.
"The Great British Beer Festival and its Winter counterpart did not attract enough visitors to cover the cost of holding them, resulting in a substantial loss," he said.
"Our membership figures, like many other organisations, are simply not growing.
"The hard truth is we are unlikely to return to pre-2020 levels.
"Our festivals are getting more expensive to hold, with fewer affordable venues.The cost of running a membership organisation and business is also increasing.
"As a result, we will not be holding either of our Great British Beer Festivals in 2026.
"In the simplest of terms, we did not get enough people through the doors to cover costs such as hiring the venue, accommodation for volunteers and buying beer, cider and perry."
Mr Corbett-Collins said the organisation would be exploring why the events made a loss and seeing what lessons cold be learned.
He said other Camra festivals would continue to be assessed through our usual processes to minimise the risk of loss.
The festival, which featured 600 beers, was also used to announce Penzance Mild as the Champion Beer of Britain, with Sarah Hughes Snowflake, brewed in Sedgley, taking second prize.
