The north’s biggest beer festival, Indy Man Beer Con (IMBC), has announced that it is coming back to Manchester this autumn, with tickets set to go on sale this week. The much-loved beer festival will return to the Grade II listed Edwardian swimming pool and Turkish bath complex, Victoria Baths, to host some of the top breweries from across the UK and the world all under one roof.
Taking place from October 5 to October 8, the four-day beer festival will feature plenty of tastings, talks and special beer collaborations for the occasion. Tickets for 2023 start from £14.50 and prices have been frozen, and for the first time ever customers can pre-order bundles of tokens with their tickets – also frozen from last year at a discounted rate of 10 for £25 that won’t be available anywhere else.
Indy Man Beer Con is still in the process of finalising the line-up for the festival, and hope to reveal the vast majority of the breweries who will be attending in July. The beer festival has previously hosted the likes of Manchester breweries Zapato, Pomona Island, Black Jack, Manchester Union and Track, as well as Bristol’s Left Handed Giant, Penryn’s Verdant Brewing Co, Kendal’s Lakes Brew Co and North Brewing Co of Leeds who recently opened a taproom at Circle Square.
Some of these breweries will be with Indy Man Beer Con for the entire weekend, and others will only be in attendance for either the first half of the festival (Thursday/Friday) or the second half (Saturday/Sunday), with the changeover happening in advance of the opening session on Saturday.
Indy Man Beer Con will also be serving up non-alcoholic drinks as well as other alcoholic drinks aside from beer at the festival, as well as offering a street food village with pop-ups from a range of different eateries. IMBC will also be hosting a trade session as well as a fringe festival featuring tap takeovers and meet the brewer events.
How to get tickets for Indy Man Beer Con
This year, ticket have been frozen for Indy Man Beer Con despite a rise in costs. This also applies to token prices for those who purchase before June 17.
Tickets will be priced at:
Thursday Evening (5.30pm – 10.30pm) £14.50
Friday Morning (11am – 4pm) £14.50
Friday Evening (5.30pm – 10.30pm) £19
Saturday Morning (11am – 4pm) £19
Saturday Evening (5.30pm – 10.30pm) £19
Sunday (1pm – 6pm) £14.50
Your ticket gains you admission to the festival, as well as a commemorative glass to keep (or to leave, if you’d rather not take it). Drinks tokens, ticketed tasting sessions, and food are not included with your ticket. Refunds on both tickets and pre-ordered tokens will be available up until 11:59pm on Wednesday 20th September 2023.
Pre-ordering of tokens can only be done at the point of the ticket being purchased, as your pre-order will be linked to your tickets. One token will go towards one third of a beer across all three days, with the option to also sell back unused tokens to the festival at the end of each session.
Tickets for Indy Man Beer Con go on general sale from May 18 and you can purchase tickets here. Independent Manchester Beer Convention (Indy Man Beer Con/IMBC) is an event created by the team behind Nell’s Pizza, Common, Port Street Beer House and The Beagle.