The Great Canadian Beer Festival (GCBF) is returning for its 30th anniversary, and for the first time in 20 years, it won’t be held at Royal Athletic Park. Presented by the Victoria Beer Society (VBS), the event—being held this year at Topaz Park due to a booking conflict—will feature around 65 Canadian breweries serving over 200 beers, with about 80 percent of those being from BC.
Event manager Lee Marchbanks says that a new higher-tier ticket option is coming to GCBF, similar to the VIP tickets featured at Langford Beer Festival (LBF), with extra perks.
“For the first time ever, we’re having a premium ticket option, and that includes a separate entrance, so not waiting quite as long to get into the festival, and there will be a premium ticket area with their own hangout tent,” says Marchbanks. “Probably the biggest highlight of that is a four-bite food pairing by chef Brian Tesolin of the Courtney Room. There has been a collaboration beer series with Ile Sauvage, Herald Street, Whistle Buoy, and Small Gods, so these four beers will be on tap, plus four different bites paired by the Courtney Room.”
This year, VBS is introducing a new program with sponsor Vessel Liquor Store, allowing people to easily order beer that they encounter at the festival.
“It’s a very cool idea that I don’t think has been done very much,” says Marchbanks. “There’s going to be a QR code at every brewery booth that wants to participate, so the idea is that festival attendees can scan the QR code, and it takes them to Vessel’s online store, and they can buy beer in package straight from Vessel. It won’t, unfortunately, be every single beer, but I’m hoping that it will be the vast majority, and that as festival-goers are going through and sampling the ones that they really love, they can take them home.”
At last July’s LBF, there was a noticeable lack of variety in the beer on offer—Marchbanks says that this was a product of summertime trends within the local industry. He admits that the VBS is responsible for curating a balanced lineup, and says that the GCBF will feature a more fall-appropriate lineup, including some darker brews.
“I will say that the brewery culture right now is leaning towards a lot of sour beers and light beers, and that is a bit of a trend right now,” he says. “With GCBF, as we’re moving later into summer, hopefully it will be a bit cooler weather, and we do have a lot more beers registered that are darker, some barrel-aged beers, and definitely a lot more variety. I do think that beer festivals will be reflective of beer styles and beer trends, but, for sure, it is part of our job to curate that list, and so far the GCBF beer list is shaping up to be nice and balanced.”
Attendees whose first beer festival impression was at LBF will find that GCBF is bigger and better in every way, with more breweries, beers, and activities such as games and an inflatable obstacle course, says Marchbanks.
“I would say that new customers, especially if their only experience was at the LBF, can truly expect twice as much, and probably even more than double the beers to try, and a lot more variety,” he says. “We certainly put lots of our eggs in the basket of GCBF so there’s a lot more fun, interactive things to do while you’re there. If people had fun at LBF then they’ll have even more fun at GCBF, and if people were feeling that LBF was maybe lacking in something, then there will be even more things to entice them to GCBF.”
Great Canadian Beer Festival
Friday, September 6 and Saturday, September 7
$25-$80, Topaz Park
victoriabeersociety.com/gcbf