Oxford Beer Festival cancelled as city council raises Town Hall charge

First held here in 1998, the annual celebration attracts up to 3,000 people, bringing much needed revenue to local breweries, pubs, restaurants, shops and hotels as well as to the Town Hall itself.

After the 2020 and 2021 festivals were abandoned due to the pandemic, revellers returned in October for its 23rd event – but there are fears that may have been the final festival.

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Attendance at the two-day event slumped to about 2,000 last year and projected costs for 2023 far exceed revenue, with the Town Hall demanding a 43 per cent increase from £7,000 to £10,000, according to the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

Dave Richardson, the editor of beer newsletter Oxford Drinker, said: "We know this announcement will disappoint many people, not only in Oxfordshire but from much further afield, as Oxford was one of the highlights of the autumn beer festival calendar.

"But we only just covered our costs last year, and now we face a £3,000 increase to hire the town hall along with the inflationary cost of beer, glasses and all the other things we need to do, including having equipment delivered to create the bars and stillage.

“While we accept that this is the first price increase for several years and understand that the city council wants to make a profit out of events, we think it’s unfortunate that a voluntary organisation such as CAMRA is asked to pay so much more when the festival has brought so many people into the city. Public demand for beer festivals is still good as we can see from smaller events, but with these price increases and the cost of living squeeze, an event at the Town Hall has become unaffordable.”

Both the city council and CAMRA are still open to discussing the matter further.

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CAMRA said running a two-day rather than a three-day festival last year was wise, as it was impossible to predict demand after the pandemic and attendance on Saturdays had never covered costs.

But the numbers attending on Thursday and Friday last October were down, mainly because fewer older people were venturing out, and a fall in the number of people working in the city centre was another factor.

As volunteers need a day before it opens to set up the festival and half a day afterwards to take everything down, the town hall needs to be hired for three and a half days for a two-day event.

“Last year we had 120 real ales and 30 ciders, with around 30 local breweries taking the opportunity to showcase their wares to a wider audience,” added Mr Richardson.

"We have considered other venues but nowhere is suitable, although we will look at holding some smaller events at pubs or breweries."

Public demand for beer festivals is still strong when costs can be kept down with the Abingdon Beer Festival being held at the Abbey Buildings next week (April 14-16), and the Witney Beer Festival at St Mary’s Church on April 29. 

Ed Turner, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for finance and asset management: said: "Oxford Town Hall offers a welcoming, competitively-priced event venue in the heart of the city. Like most other venues, due to inflationary pressures, we have been forced to increase prices to keep the venue viable.

"This includes a minimum charge for the peak periods of Friday to Sunday when Town Hall bookings are In high demand.

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"Despite this we were able to offer CAMRA a price of just over £10,600 for five days’ hire (Wednesday to Sunday, including two days setting up and breaking down), the same price offered the last time they chose this option, in 2019.

"We also offered four-day options of Thursday to Sunday at just over £8,000 or Wednesday to Saturday at just over £10,00

"We have approached CAMRA directly to discuss the use of the town hall and see if we can find a way through. We would still like to host the festival if it can be made to work for all involved."

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This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF