Do you love beer? If so, then you absolutely must visit Toronto’s Festival of Beer, which is also called Beer Fest. In general, our city hosts various interesting cultural events, festivals, and concerts. Usually, these are cultural, artistic events. However, for appreciators of the hoppy drink, they decided to organize an annual fest as well. Today, we’re going to talk about the history of the creation and development of Toronto’s Festival of Beer. Read more about this on the pages of the site torontoski.info.
How it all began
Toronto’s Festival of Beer dates back to the end of the 20th century. Two friends, beer lovers — Gregor Cosway and Scott Rondo — became the founders of the fest in 1996. However, their love for beer began at Carleton University, where they founded “The Gourmet Beer Club.” By the way, this club was the first in Canada and it was from it that the famous festival began.
In 2008, Greg Cosway teamed up with Les Murray, a veteran of the beer industry. This was a great idea, as the event lasted for a full three days.
Development of the festival
At first, the fest was held at Fort York, but in 2009 the event was moved to Bandshell Park in Exhibition Place. Not only did the location change, but so did the format of the festival itself. International musicians were invited to the event. A variety of tasty treats were also featured at the festival, so people could not only drink beer but also eat well.
Over the years, Toronto’s Festival of Beer has grown to the level of becoming the largest beer event in Canada. Just imagine the numbers — every year the fest attracts over 40,000 visitors. In addition, people have the opportunity to taste over 400 brands of beer. By the way, beer brands are presented here not only from Canada, but from all over the world. The festival even added a new “World of Beer” pavilion, which features beer from various countries, such as Ireland, Sweden, and the USA.
As mentioned above, the event features a wide selection of food from local restaurants and culinary master classes. And the music program impresses guests. Global stars like NAS and Run The Jewels entertain the fest’s crowd.
Toronto’s Festival of Beer also cares about the environment and implements various initiatives. For example, the event introduced the use of reusable plastic tokens for tasting. The fest also employs paper cup recycling and bottle collection for reuse. All of this has significantly reduced the amount of waste.
Beer festivals around the world
Toronto’s Festival of Beer is not the only festival. There are many fans of this drink in the world. Beer is especially popular in Germany, so similar events are often organized there.
The famous Oktoberfest, which takes place in Munich, is considered the largest beer festival in the world. It was created in 1810. In modern times, it lasts for 16 days in late September and early October.
Starkbierzeit — this is another beer festival in Munich. Traditional Bavarian dishes are also featured here.
Germany also hosts the Berlin “Beer Mile,” Gäubodenvolksfest, and Cannstatter Volksfest.
Large-scale beer festivals are also organized in the Czech Republic: Žižkovské pivobrani, Žatecká Dočesná, Pilsner Fest, Skunce ve skle, etc. These events take place in various cities in the Czech Republic and last for more than one day.
Other countries also organize similar events annually: Belgium, Cyprus, the United States, etc. All these festivals are unique and adapted to the tastes of local residents. However, one rule remains unchanged — everyone honours the golden hoppy drink.
So that’s the story of Toronto’s Festival of Beer, which was created by two lovers of the hoppy drink. We hope our material was informative for you and that you learned more information about your home city.
And do you love beer?