Beer Festival in St. Petersburg

The beer festival is a very unusual event.His tradition came to us from Germany, where the famous "Oktoberfest" has been held for many years. Over time, these initiatives took root in Russia. Similar entertaining festivals are held in different cities. But one of the largest - in St. Petersburg. Thus, the line from the song of the popular group "Leningrad" - "drinking in St. Petersburg" is vividly illustrated. "And what else is there to do?" - Many organizers of these holidays are perplexed.

Festival of Kvass and Beer

The festival of beer is often combined with the holiday of another, friendly drink - kvass. A similar holiday is also held in St. Petersburg. And for several years now.

The place of its holding is the sports and concert complex "Petersburg". The beer festival is held in one day.

Thanks to the fact that, in addition to beer, the program also claims kvass, the festival is held in a family format. Drink to taste can find themselves and adults and young family members.

A mandatory attribute of such festivals -performances of popular musicians. Usually, concerts are given for free, while the collectives that go on stage easily gather thousands of crowds. For example, at the last beer festival in St. Petersburg, which took place in the summer of 2017, Vyacheslav Butusov performed with his group "Yu-Peter", the group "Sunday" and "Time Machine".

That it was interesting for adults and children,organize interactive sites. They are equipped with separate zones for sports competitions, intellectual and creative competitions, fun for the whole family.

For eight years already at the festival of beer andkvass is a non-alcoholic area. And this does not bother anyone. All minors, adults who came to the holiday behind the wheel, and kvass lovers here with generosity will treat this bread drink.

Area for adults

There are enough places for adult visitors to the festival of beer in St. Petersburg. They are offered a wide range of intoxicating products from one of the largest Baltika beer companies in Russia.

Here we are closely watched, that beer is not sold to minors in any way. This is the responsibility of the public figures, who have united in the joint organization "Beer Watch."

Hard times

The festival of beer and kvass did not always have a cloudless future. In 2012, the holiday was canceled on the basis of the ruling of the acting governor Georgy Poltavchenko.

The reason for this was a new federal law,according to which beer was equated to other alcoholic beverages. As a result, everyone started talking about the collapse of the idea to create in the city on the Neva an analog of the famous "Oktoberfest".

At the same time, initially from the city budgetit was planned to allocate about two million rubles for the celebration. They had to go, in particular, to compensate for the costs associated with providing fire and medical safety.

For brewing companies, festival participants,this decision became so unexpected that most of them simply refused any comments. After all, with his signature under the decree on the cancellation of the festival Poltavchenko inflicted not only financial but also reputational damage to the producers of foam drinks.

Festival CRAFT WEEKEND

Another major festival of craft beeris held in St. Petersburg under the name CRAFT WEEKEND. It unites in one place up to 70 breweries, as well as the largest in the city platform for streetfood. There is also an abundance of music, visual art and even beer yoga. About six thousand people take part in the festival.

The festival brings a lot of musical groups. Traditionally, these are the Dunaev Orchestra, La Minor, Shorts, Gypsy Boutique, Che Morale and many others.

The uniqueness of the festival

The uniqueness of this festival is thatIn addition to the musical and entertainment part, there is an informative one. Masters in their industries give amusing lectures for all comers. For example, at the last crafting beer festival in St. Petersburg CRAFT WEEKEND, commercial director of a large company Roman Medvedev spoke about organizing control over purchasing prices and working with the Unified State Automated Information System. Olga Polyakova, the organizer of the Restaurant Day in the city on the Neva River, gave a lecture on the differences and features of supermarkets and food chains. The founder of the Belgian brewery Rudi de Swimer shared his experience in the production of craft beer. A beer sommelier, yes, there is one such, from Lithuania, Jonas Lingis told about the peculiarities of crafting in his Baltic country.

There was even a speech by the author of the popular in certain circles book "The history of beer. From monasteries to sport bars". A lecture of the same name was delivered by Juha Tahvanainen.

The cost of visiting this festival is400 rubles. For this money you get a pass to the territory of CRAFT WEEKEND, the official festival mug, the opportunity to attend a music program and lectures on craft brewing, discuss your questions with experts in these areas. And also live to see how the craft craft beer is brewed at the festival.

Immersion in contemporary art

At the same festival of craft beer in St. Petersburg in 2017Visitors have a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of true modern art. To do this, even arrange a separate section CRAFT ART.

Here, their works exhibit modernpainters. Next door is the CRAFT MARKET, where anyone can buy a piece of art that they like. Here and showrooms from St. Petersburg masters of arts and crafts. Author's interior items, fashionable vinyl records in recent years, unique souvenirs.

Also at the festival you can vote every year for the best beers. Winning breweries receive nice prizes and gifts.

Home brew festival

Every year in St. Petersburg organize a festivalhomemade beer. It takes place in the event space "Nautilus" on the 16th line of Vasilyevsky Island, 83. About fifty Russian breweries traditionally gather here, which are presented to the audience at least 200 author sorts of beer. His main goal is to prove that today’s delicious beer can be cooked by anyone at home.

Each variety presented in the programfestival, participates in the competition. The winner is determined by several nominations - “Best table decoration”, “Best guest beer”, “Best brewer of the festival” and, of course, “Best beer of the festival”.

Winners receive prizes and valuable gifts. For example, the opportunity to brew a thousand liters of beer at the famous Knightberg brewery. The main feature of this festival is precisely that all participants are non-professionals. Do not have their own craft business, and brewed beer just for fun. His and everyone around him.