The UK’s Biggest Beer Festival — And Now Its Biggest Beer Trade Show — Returns for 2026!

FIRST EXHIBITOR LINE-UP AND TRADE ACCREDITATION DETAILS - 

New for London Craft Beer Festival '26

•  New Southwark Park venue – bigger footprint, and better activations

•  Trade & Industry Only Session only – expanded and elevated no public access

•  Extended hours – more time for meetings and tastings

•  We Are Beer Industry – talks & panels from leaders across brewing, on & off-trade retail

•  Complimentary Good Beer Drinker Insight Report for all attendees

•  The 2026 We Are Beer Top 50 UK Beer Awards prize giving

•  The Launch of “WET LED” - a new dedicated spirits, cocktail and drinks destination

Taking place at Southwark Park on 17th–18th July 2026, London Craft Beer Festival (LCBF) will welcome 25,000 consumers across three sessions, alongside a significantly expanded industry-only trade day on Friday 17th July (10:30–16:30).

With the closure of the Great British Beer Festival, LCBF now stands as the largest beer festival in the UK — and for 2026, it also becomes the country’s biggest beer trade show.

The new outdoor venue will allow the festival to grow into one of Europe’s largest, giving more space for attending breweries and brands to activate. 

75% of the UK’s Good Beer Buying Power — In One Place

The 2026 trade session will bring together 75% of the UK’s good beer buying power, including buying teams from all major UK supermarkets and leading on-trade pub groups representing more than 10,000 sites nationwide.

With that level of influence in the room, London Craft Beer Festival is now firmly established as the most commercially significant beer industry gathering in the country.

The trade programme includes:

• We Are Beer Industry talks and tastings

• The unveiling of the Good Beer Drinker Insight Report

• The 2026 We Are Beer Top 50 UK Beer Awards

• Structured networking and meeting opportunities

The trade event is delivered in partnership with leading distributors Real Drinks and The Beer Company, and alongside the British Beer & Pub Association, further cementing its role as the central meeting point for the UK beer and hospitality sector.

Greg Wells, Co-Founder and Managing Director of We Are Beer, said:

“This is now the single biggest gathering of beer buyers, brewers and hospitality operators in the UK.

The scale of buying power in attendance makes this a genuinely market-moving event. Deals are done here. Partnerships are formed here. This is where the UK beer industry comes together.”

First Line-Up Announced

The first wave of breweries for 2026 has also been revealed, including craft pioneers like Brooklyn Brewery and Thornbridge Brewery, fast growing modern leaders like Verdant and DEYA, cask heavyweights such as Timothy Taylor’s and Bass, and world lager icons like Budweiser Budvar and Bitburger.

More than 150 breweries and over 800 beers will feature across the weekend.

Then there’s the entertainment; from live music, DJ’s galore, games and giveaways. 

This year LCBF is going big on food. We Are Beer has teamed up with food influencer and food challenge queen, Kate Oven’s to curate this year’s line-up and it’s going to set even the dullest of tastebuds on fire. 

New for 2026: “WET LED”

Expanding beyond beer, the festival will launch “WET LED”, its first dedicated spirits and cocktail destination, in collaboration with DrinksOne.

DrinksOne will curate and host the space, cementing its position as a premium category spirits and no/low leader while reflecting the evolving nature of modern drinks. WET LED introduces a serious spirits presence within the UK’s biggest beer event — broadening its appeal and commercial relevance.

With a larger Southwark Park footprint, expanded trade programme, heavyweight brewery line-up and unprecedented buyer attendance, London Craft Beer Festival 2026 is not just a celebration — it is now the UK’s most important beer event.

Tickets and trade accreditation are available now at londoncraftbeerfestival.co.uk

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Editor’s Notes

• Online press accreditation form. 

• LCBF’s new home, Southwark Park provides the We Are Beer team with more space and flexibility for partner activations. This Grade II-listed park and garden in Bermondsey, near the banks of the River Thames spreads across 63 acres, offering a picturesque backdrop for beer drinkers to enjoy as the sun shines in July. 

• LCBF takes place across three sessions: Friday evening (17:30 - 22:30), Saturday afternoon (11:00 - 16:00) and evening (17:30 - 22:30).

• Standard Entry tickets for individual sessions are £64.50 + booking fee. Fast-track entry tickets are £69.50 + booking fee. Group booking discounts are available for groups of 6. 

• Weekend tickets are £150.00+ booking fee for all three sessions.

• We Are Beer is partnering with BBPA to support its Long Live the Local Campaign: The campaign launched in 2018 to raise awareness of the high number of pub closures across the UK and to highlight that the UK has one of the highest Beer Duty rates in the world. Public support for the campaign has since helped to secure three consecutive freezes in Beer Duty.

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