This festival has now closed. Many thanks if you came - we hope you enjoyed it. If not we're sorry you missed it! Next festival is provisionally Wed 1 to Sat 4 October 2025.

46th Bedford CAMRA Beer & Cider Festival
Wednesday 2nd to Saturday 5th October 2024
Corn Exchange, St Paul’s Square, Bedford MK40 1SL

Our new festival logo celebrates the 150th anniversary of Bedford Corn Exchange (photo right), where our festivals have been held every year since 1978, except in 1988 when we moved west to Queen's Park while the hall floor was renewed, and in 2020 when Covid-19 restrictions prevented us from holding one.

Admission. Opening times are Wed: 4pm to 11pm, Thu/Fri: 12 noon to 11pm, Sat: 12 noon to 10pm. CAMRA members pay £2 and non-members £5 at all times. Pay at the door in cash or by card - there are no advance tickets. Supervised children under age 18 will be admitted at no extra charge to a family area in the Howard Room upstairs on Thursday to Saturday until 5pm.

Unaccompanied under-18s will not be admitted at any time, proof of age may be required.

Layout. The general layout of the main hall is similar to last year, with the beer stillage and bar running across the rear wall, allowing space for seating and tables in the hall as well as in the Howard Room upstairs. The foreign and craft beer bar is also in the Howard Room. A lift is available between floors and from street level for disabled visitors.

Cloakroom. Coats and bags may be left in the basement cloakroom, which is operated by RAFA Club Bedford members, for a small donation to charity.

Beer, Cider and Wine. We have 75 different cask beers and 21 brands of cider and perry on sale at a separate bar along the side of the hall. There are also 7 draught foreign or British craft beers served on KeyKeg dispense. A small range of 5 German bottled beers includes two from Bamberg, Bedford's twin city in Bavaria.

Click beers, ciders and wines to download our final list of cask, craft and foreign beers, cider, perry and wine. Click the equivalent list in Excel format for downloading details to smartphones. For those wanting something different, a small selection of red, rose and white wines is available on the cider bar. Wine glasses are provided on the bar, not at the main glasses counter.

We are also offering the very last opportunity to try Gritchie Galaxy NEIPA, a fruity New England style 5.2% abv IPA from film director Guy Gritchie's recently closed Wiltshire brewery. Further details in beer list. We have only 24 440ml cans and expect them to sell quickly. GOING, GOING, GONE FOR EVER!

Mead. Specialist producer Rookery Mead is again taking a stall at the festival, offering plain and flavoured varieties of home-made mead to taste, as well as bottles for sale.

Soft drinks. Fizzy soft drinks are available free of charge from the cider and foreign/craft beer bars. Plain tapwater is available from the Glasses counter.

Glasses. Commemorative festival pint glasses with this year's logo are available for a refundable £4 deposit, or take one home as a souvenir. Neck lanyards used to hold glasses are not permitted at this festival for safety reasons.

Food. Caterer Yaw Asiamiah, owner of Better Than Mamma's in Milton Keynes, is providing a range of hot and cold food with a Caribbean twist and with vegetarian and vegan options. The menu looks very appetising - click BBCF food menu to see the main meals!

Entertainers. Wednesday evening: Bedford Ukulele Orchestra
Thursday evening: Innis Eire band
Friday evening: Bedford Town Band
Saturday evening: Blues Brothers tribute band
Paul the magician will perform a magic show for children on Saturday afternoon, followed by light mobile comedy for adults in the evening.

Staffing. Support from branch members is essential to make the festival a success. If you are a local CAMRA member or a friend of CAMRA known to us, please volunteer to help, Click the link to our Online Staffing Form and let us know which days and time you are available. If you prefer to complete a paper form and return it by email, click PDF Staffing Form to download. Although we can't pay you for your time, festival staff are allowed a reasonable amount of free beer while on duty and those working all day get a discount on food. If you have any stewarding or other skills that might be useful for the festival, please contact festival organiser Katherine Lilley at ku.gro.armac.sdebhtron@lavitsefreeb.

Staff shirts. Staff volunteers can buy a dark blue festival T-shirt or polo shirt at cost: £10 for a T and £12 for a polo (plus £1 for very large sizes), if pre-ordered before the festival. Click BBCF staff shirts for shirt images and further details. To order a shirt contact ku.oc.ebircsretwepeht@krow. Festival visitors can buy a non-volunteer shirt at normal prices.

If you can display a Festival Poster at your place of work or elsewhere, please click to download.

Cask sponsors. Local businesses are invited to sponsor a beer cask and have three options:
*For £25 you get a full colour A3 advert on the front of the chosen cask.
*For £50 you get the advert + 2 free admission tickets, 2 glasses and £10 beer vouchers.
*For £90 you get the advert + 4 free admission tickets, 4 glasses and £20 beer vouchers.
For further enquiries or to become a sponsor, email ku.gro.armac.sdebhtron@srosnops. To pick a beer cask, download beers, ciders and wines.

Our friends at Future Legend Media have produced a short, but witty promotional video to encourage support for the festival. Click BBCF video to view it.

Many thanks to our main sponsor Gallagher Developments for encouragement and generous financial support.