Demand prompts change to bigger venue for next Wanaka beer festival

Wanaka Beer Festival organisers have booked a bigger venue. Photo / iStock

A huge demand for tickets last time around has forced Wanaka Beer Festival organisers into a change of venue for this year's December event.

Last November, tickets for the inaugural festival sold out 10 days prior to the event held at Post Office Lane, leaving many potential customers unable to attend, the Otago Daily Times reports.

To prevent a recurrence, the now-annual festival has been moved to the Wanaka Showgrounds and the number of tickets available has been doubled to 500, with projected expansion in the years to come.

Festival organiser Ben Clark said Wanaka had become a hub of craft beer-making in recent years.

"[There are] seven beer brands in town. For a population of 9000, that's pretty good, even by Bavarian standards."

Clark said all but one of the brands would be represented at the festival, while two guest breweries would also take part, from Queenstown and Dunedin respectively.

He said the festival was a good opportunity for beer lovers to sample new flavours, as brewers would be showcasing beers normally not for sale.

"We're looking at 25 to 30 beers on offer with a variety of styles and strengths," he said.

Live entertainment, food and non-alcoholic beverages would also be available.

The 2017 Wanaka Beer Festival will be held on Saturday, December 9 from 12pm to 6pm.