Hold the drinks as beer festival is off
Rising COVID cases behind decision to halt fundraiser
Organisers of Perth Beer Festival have decided to put the drinks on ice for this year with the event postponed until summer 2023.
The festival, a key fundraising activity for Perthshire Rugby, was set to welcome thousands of punters to North Inch this May.
However, citing “rising case numbers of COVID-19” the organisers have decided to cancel this year’s keg fest - which would have celebrated its 10th anniversary - until the weekend of Saturday, May 6, 2023.
The traditional Perthshire Rugby 7s tournament that takes place in tandem with the festival will still go ahead as planned at North Inch this summer on May 7.
The cancellation means that next year’s beer festival will have seen a four-year gap between hosting, after thousands descended on a sun-soaked Fair City for the last annual Perth Beer Festival in summer 2019.
Sports fans got to enjoy an enthralling day as a rugby 7s tournament took place and music-lovers were treated to live bands and the Perthshire Brass orchestra, with a fun fair on site for the younger guests.
Around 100 volunteers poured thousands of pints for punters and flipped around 3000 burgers at the barbecue, with most of the beers from the event’s 20 brewers selling out and volunteers helping out long into the night.
Speaking of the cancellation, organiser for Perth Beer Festival Carol Ann Rose said: “Perth Beer Festival is a key fundraising activity for Perthshire Rugby.
“In light of rising case numbers of COVID-19, we have reluctantly taken the decision to protect our volunteers and patrons at this stage and postpone the 10th anniversary of Perth Beer Festival until next year.
“This is not a decision which has been taken lightly, however we have had to take the decision at this time due to the scale of overheads involved in delivering the event.
“Planning for 2023, Perth Beer Festival’s 10th anniversary has begun and it will be a ‘bigger and better than ever’ celebration.
“We will look forward to welcoming everyone back on Saturday, May 6, 2023.
“The Perthshire Rugby 7s tournament is planned to go ahead as normal on May 7, 2022.
“We encourage rugby fans to come down to the North Inch to support the many teams competing from across Scotland throughout the day”.