Great British Beer Festival: Visitor numbers break previous record at Olympia

Despite concerns about the impact of the Olympics and transport issues CAMRA said it was “dead pleased” with the number of visitors that made it to the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) at Olympia last week.

Visitor numbers hit 47,500 for the annual event - the highest ever recorded at the Olympia venue for the consumer group.

CAMRA had been forced to change the venue for the annual event back to Olympia from Earl’s Court due to the Olympics.

The last year GBBF was at Olympia was in 2005 when visitor numbers hit a record 46,000.

The record for the Earl’s Court venue was 65,000. However, CAMRA said it was impossible to compare the two venues as Earl’s Court is a much bigger venue.

There had been some concern about how the Olympics would affect the numbers of people attending the festival. And there were transport issues as there were no tubes from Earl’s Court to the venue only overland trains this year.

CAMRA was even forced to turn away a couple of potential beer stands who wanted to exhibit but could not take any more stands due to space issues. It was also the first year that a cider company had exhibited at GBBF as Weston’s showcased it range.