A POPULAR beer festival is set to welcome its first punters in three years at a Bradford district venue from tomorrow.

Bradford Beer & Cider Festival 2023 will be held at Victoria Hall in Saltaire from Thursday, March 2 to Saturday, March 4.

More than 110 real ales along with real ciders and perries will be available at the festival, organised by the Bradford branch of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale).

Thursday’s session will be held from 4pm to 10.30pm, Friday’s and Saturday’s sessions will be split into two from 11.30am until 4pm and 6pm to 10.30pm. The event is for anyone aged 18 and over.

Organisers say Friday night’s and Saturday afternoon’s sessions are sold out, with tickets still available for the sessions held on Friday afternoon and Saturday night. The Thursday afternoon session is pay on the door.

The beer barrels are in place and ready to pour pints for visitors at Victoria Hall, with preparation work taking place at the site since last Sunday. 

A selection of wines and craft keg beers will also be available at the event.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Pete Conkerton, of Bradford CAMAR, at Victoria Hall in Saltaire ahead of this year's festivalPete Conkerton, of Bradford CAMAR, at Victoria Hall in Saltaire ahead of this year's festival (Image: Newsquest)

Peter Down, from Bradford CAMRA, said: “The preparations have been going well.

“We seem to be progressing better than we were in 2020 and we’re looking forward to starting the festival up at 4pm on Thursday.

“It’s going to be a great festival. We have done well with the ticket sales. We have had positive feedback on the beer lists. We have quite a few beers from breweries that you may have come across.”

Last year’s Bradford Beer & Cider Festival was cancelled due to concerns over the Covid-19 omicron variant at that time. Organisers announced in December 2021 that it was cancelled due to the “enactment of additional precautionary measures related to the Omicron version of the virus”.

Other attractions at the festival will include live music and a tombola. This year’s festival will also be raising money for the Bradford Central Foodbank.

Tickets are priced £6 each for the festival’s sessions apart from Saturday night’s session which are £3 each and Thursday’s session which is priced £4. Go to ticketsource.co.uk/bbf/e-gegdem to buy tickets online.

Tickets for the festival can also be bought from a number of pubs and bars in the district. These include Cap and Collar (Saltaire), Chip N Ern (Bingley), Corn Dolly (Bradford), The Fighting Cock (Bradford), The Fox (Shipley), Hullabaloo (Shipley) and Salt Cellar (Saltaire).

Go to bradfordbeerfestival.co.uk for more information. Entry to the festival includes an events programme.