Australia’s biggest beer week is coming back for more! The third Good Beer Week will take place across Melbourne and Victoria from May 18 to 26, 2013. And if you want to take part, then NOW is the time to get involved. Registrations open at the Good Beer Week website today for anyone wanting to hold an event (or events) during the festival. Registrations close on November 30.
So whether you’re a brewery, bar or bottleshop owner, run a beer-friendly restaurant or are involved in anything related to the promotion and celebration of good beer, now’s the time to get your thinking cap on and concoct the best beer event you’ve ever thought of.
Past experience from the first two festivals has shown that creativity and ingenuity pays off when creating events – and that Good Beer Week is a great time for venues to try out new ideas or concepts they’ve been mulling over but never risked. It brings new punters to venues' doors and introduces the beer world to a wider audience.
âWe’ve opened the submission process earlier this year so that breweries, venues and anyone else intending to take part can finalise their registrations before the busy Christmas period,â says festival co-founder James Smith*. âWe’ve also introduced more event types in response to feedback from venues who were involved in the first two festivals.
âOur goal for 2013 is âRaising The Bar’ – in other words, taking what’s already widely regarded as the leading festival of its kind in the region to another level. This means that, having doubled in size from 2011 to 2012, we’re not necessarily looking for more events but for even higher quality, more inventive and more diverse events than before.
âWith the popularity and reach of craft beer growing fast, we will also be providing a platform for more new beer-loving bars and restaurants to announce themselves to the world.â
What’s new in 2013?
- More event styles: in response to feedback from venues and the success of certain elements of last year’s festival, the Good Beer Week Team has introduced more event types and fee tiers for 2013.
- A video guide to Good Beer Week: look out for an online video on the benefits of participating in the festival due for release in the coming weeks.
- A new website: the Good Beer Week Team is investing in a site with a smoother, more interactive program in keeping with its aim to be the best festival of its kind. This will be unveiled when we release the 2013 program in March.
- Centralised ticketing: the Good Beer Week Team is also investing in a new centralised ticketing system.
- The first Australian Craft Brewers Conference: the newly-formed Craft Beer Industry Association is partnering with Good Beer Week to deliver the first Craft Brewers Conference in Melbourne during the festival.
- Expanded regional program: to help encourage the spread of good beer, the Good Beer Week Team is looking to expand the number of regional events forming part of the festival program.
Pint of Origin
The Pint of Origin concept was launched at the 2012 festival. A progression of sorts from the Crafty Crawl that we ran in 2011, it saw five Melbourne venues turn over their taps to interstate brewers for the week, so that the city became a showcase for the whole of Australia. It proved a great success, with some participating venues enjoying their biggest ever weeks and seeing takings rise by 50 per cent or more. Some punters created Pint of Origin crawls and the concept led to the spawning of the Twitter hashtag #PoO.
In 2013, this concept is being developed further, with the addition of a venue showcasing Victorian breweries too. There will also be a dedicated marketing plan plus Pint of Origin sections in the online and print programs.
There are only six spots available, with first refusal going to the venues that took part in 2012. Venues who can offer a minimum of six taps for interstate guest brewers for the week can register their interest via the Good Beer Week website.
Punters and brewers at the Masterclass of Champions, the event that delivered the Our Dark Secret collaboration brew
The next step
If you’re planning to take part, then head straight to the Good Beer Week website, where you’ll find a step-by-step guide to registering your venue and event(s). The site also features downloadable Event Guidelines and Case Studies of past successes.
If you’re a punter, simply hold your horses. Once submissions close, the Good Beer Week Team will assess all the submissions and begin work on creating another awesome program. If you can’t hold off and have some ideas on events you’d like to see in 2013, why not post them here, email events@goodbeerweek.com or tell your favourite beer-friendly venue?
You can follow Good Beer Week on Twitter and Facebook or sign up for a newsletter on the festival website.
*Please note: James Smith is also the founder of The Crafty Pint.
