In a giant marquee on York’s famous Knavesmire. We’ve moved to better facilities opposite York Racecourse Grandstand by the winning post. Although the postcode is  YO23 1EX - entry will be at the top of Knavesmire Rd through a gate by the owners and trainers entrance and will be signposted.

5.30pm -11pm on Wednesday 20th and midday -11pm on Thursday 21st to Saturday 23rd. Last admissions on all 4 evenings will be 10.30pm (although we can’t imagine you wanting to arrive that late !) and all bars will stop serving at 11pm.

A special festival bus service, in association with York Pullman, will operate from Wednesday 20/09/17 to Saturday 23/09/17.  This will start from York Railway Station at 11.30am departing every hour from the Station until 9.30pm.  The bus will leave the Race Course for York Station at 12noon and then every hour until 10.00pm and then again at 10.45pm and 11.30pm 

The fares to be paid by the passengers direct to the driver are £2.50 – Single. £4.00 - Return

There will be over 450 real ales; over 100 real ciders and a Foreign Beer bar selling a selection of 20 draught foreign beers (draught and bottled beers including lagers). There will also be a selection of wines and soft drinks.

Wednesday 20th - Public £3.50, CAMRA members £1.50;

Thursday 21st - Public £4.50, CAMRA members £2.50;

Friday 22nd/Saturday 23rd- Public £5.50, CAMRA members £3.50

The cost of putting on a festival of this scale is very significant and admission charges go towards covering just some of the outlay on things such as marquee hire, fencing, generators, toilet facilities, bar equipment & scaffolding.

You will need to buy a souvenir polycarbonate festival pint or half pint “glass” for £2.50 when you arrive (licencing conditions do not allow real glass) which can be refunded should youchoose, when you leave the festival.

There will be no beer tokens – you pay cash for your beverage, as you would in a pub.

Visitors in previous years will know that we keep prices as reasonable as possible. Beers will be priced individually to reflect their strength (ABV).

Yes, glasses are marked for third and half pint measures as well.

Yes, for just 50p you can buy a programme listing all the available beverages with tasting notes. If you purchase a ticket in advance you get a free programme as part of the price.

We will endeavour to have the greatest range of beers on at all times but reserve the right to keep beers from sale due to them not being ready for drinking. The range will of course diminish as beers sell out.

Although this is primarily a real ale festival there will be a selection of premium world lagers available at the Foreign Beer Bar. Do not expect the mass produced brands that you would see in your local

No - soft drinks only in plastic bottles.

Under 18's will be admitted with a responsible adult but will be required to leave by 8pm.

Yes, there will be a wide variety of 9 different hot and cold foods encompassing cuisines from around the world including numerous vegetarian options.

There are no cashpoints onsite so please bring plenty of cash as we don’t have card machines. If you're coming by train there are cashpoints on York Station. The nearest cashpoints by foot are Bishopthorpe Rd Shops or Sainsbury’s Blossom Street - both around 1 mile away.

There is a very large beer garden with extensive seating that accommodates smokers.

There is plenty of parking for bikes. There will be limited on-street parking for cars adjacent to the festival on Knavesmire Road, but of course we do not recommend driving to the festival unless you are a non-drinker.

Dogs that are kept under control and on a lead at all times are allowed.

There is a varied programme of live music covering most sessions - exact details of the music acts and various sessions are still being finalised and will appear nearer to the festival.

The huge marquee is large enough to accommodate everyone onsite. There is plenty of standing room in the marquee as well as plenty of seating.

Most of the day there will be no queue (apart from opening time). In 2016 the peak was 10 minutes on Friday night. If we reach our safety limit then we may have to go to "oneout one in". If you buy tickets in advance at busy times you will have your own fast-track queue.

Yes – please contact  for more details.

Yes we do. Over 200 volunteers selflessly work on all aspects of the festival, from setting up to taking down. We are still recruiting volunteers (CAMRA members) to work in all areas of the Festival. If you work a full session at the festival either behind the bar or in any other capacity we will give you a food and drink allowance as a thank you.

York Visitor Information Servicehas a good booking service at www.visityork.org/book as well as the regular online portals such as www.laterooms.com and www.booking.com. For holiday lets and rentals starting from just £42 per night have a look at https://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/york/

Yes,  and