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The National Winter Ales Festival (NWAF) is organised annually by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). From 2018 it was marketed as Great British Beer Festival Winter. The event showcases real ales available in the UK in the winter months, especially strong ales, stouts and porters. It was first held in 1997, alongside the Great British Beer Festival. Great British Beer Festival Winter is also home to the Champion Winter Beer of Britain awards.
The festival is generally held in January or February of each year; however there were two festivals in 1997, one at each end of the year. The first one gave the awards for 1996/7 and the second for 1997/8; there was no festival in 1998.
While the summer event has been exclusive to London since 1991, the Great British Beer Festival Winter moves between host cities, allocated on 3-year cycle. Branches of CAMRA around the United Kingdom bid for the event. Derby was the host city for 2014 to 2016 where the event was held at the Roundhouse. The final Derby festival drew 13,832 attendees, the largest in the event's history.[1] They drank a combined 57,000 pints of the 470 beers on offer.[1]
Norwich and Norfolk CAMRA hosted the event in 2017, 2018 and 2019, at The Halls, a medieval complex in Norwich consisting of St Andrew's Hall and Blackfriars' Hall.
| Year | Location | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Old Fruit Market, Glasgow | ||
| 1999–2002 | Upper Campfield Market, Manchester | ||
| 2003–2004 | Old Town Hall, Burton-on-Trent | ||
| 2005–2009 | New Century Hall, Manchester | ||
| 2010–2013 | Sheridan Suite, Manchester | ||
| 2014–2016 | The Roundhouse, Derby | ||
| 2017–2019 | The Halls, Norwich | ||
| 2020–2022 | The New Bingley Hall, Birmingham | 2021 and 2022 events cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. | |
| 2023–2024 | Burton Town Hall, Burton-on-Trent | Incorporated at Burton Beer & Cider Festival | [2] |
