Recent years have seen a plethora of one and two-day beer festivals spring up across Australia following a similar formula: heaps of beer stalls alongside a few food, cider and wine stalls, live music, kids entertainment and educational seminars.
The Ballarat Beer Festival has done as much as any to prove it can be a winning formula and is coming back to the City Oval for a fourth show on January 24 to coincide with the Australia Day long weekend.
They're adding much more to their successful formula in 2015 too. But let's start with the returning features...
- Taking to the main stage are Ash Grunwald, The Delta Riggs, Way Of The Eagle (Jay Skubiszewski's creative collaboration featuring Dan Sultan and The Cat Empire's Harry James Angus), Chris Russell's Chicken Walk; Buddha In A Chocolate Box, Timberwolf and Demi Louise.
- Educational seminars, again hosted by the ubiquitous Prof Pilsner, include homebrewing, brewer Q&A, Chuck Hahn talking cheese and Stefano di Pieri talking beer and food.
- Heaps of brewer and cider stalls.
- Kids zone.
- Food stalls.
On top of that will be the introduction a separate Brewers' Backyard Tent. This has been pulled together by the team at Cavalier and features 15 breweries, their beers, all manner of entertainment and games and, the launch of the biggest (in terms of brewers involved) collaboration ever brewed in Australia: a hoppy summer wheat beer brewed in December.
The family friendly event kicks off at 11am and concludes at 8pm.
You can book tickets (and drink tokens) available via Ticketek's website or by calling 132 849. Full price tickets start from $45 adults; $20 juniors (13 to 17) with children aged 12 and under getting in free.
For more information check out the festival website.
And if you're partial to taking the scenic route from Melbourne to the festival, you can do so as there is a vintage 1950s train, complete with restored air conditioned carriages, heading there from Southern Cross. Head here for info about travelling by heritage train.
