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A beer festival in Manchester was compared to Glasgow’s disastrous Willy Wonka experience after clients turned up to a “half empty” venue with “rude” employees.
The first International Brewing and Cider (IBC) Festival, which was a two-day ticketed occasion with costs of up to £40, was held on the Depot Mayfield Manchester final weekend. But its organisers had been quickly pressured to apologise after clients slammed the experience, criticising the standard of the drinks on supply and the prices.
One festival-goer mentioned on X: “The most disappointing beer event ever. I had three beers which all tasted like a plastic cup. One went in the sink, one a mate finished for me and the third went in the urinal.
“Left before we had been there for two hours. The Wonka of beer festivals. I paid £43 to get in. I’ll get over the financial cost but distrust such events in future.”
Did you attend the occasion? If so e-mail alexander.butler@unbiased.co.uk
The IBC replied: “We are very sorry that you had a less than perfect experience at the International Brewing & Cider Awards Festival. This was our first festival and everything was not perfect.
“We are a not-for-profit trade organisation representing the value chain supplying the brewing and beverage industry and organiser of the oldest international brewing and cider awards in the world.
“As a first time Festival we underwent a steep learning curve & believe we adapted to deliver a better model as the event progressed.
“Certainly, should we organise a Festival to follow the 2026 Awards all of our learnings and your feedback will be taken into account.”
Organisers of Willy’s Chocolate Experience in Glasgow had been additionally pressured to apologise for their occasion
(Stuart Sinclair/Facebook)
Customer Matt Turner-Allen instructed BBC News he paid £38.50 for a ticket that got here with six tokens – however solely for half pints of chosen drinks.
He mentioned: “I texted my boss in Glasgow, and I said this is the Willy Wonka festival of Manchester. I have young kids and I have to be selective with my nights out, so it was a big disappointment.”
It comes after the organisers of a disastrous Willy Wonka-style experience in Glasgow had been pressured to apologise after households mentioned they had been nonetheless ready for refunds.
House of Illuminati, which charged up to £35 for tickets, promised households an “immersive experience” however as an alternative they arrived to discover a sparse warehouse stuffed with unusual AI-generated characters together with made-up villain ‘The Unknown’, who left youngsters in tears.
One father or mother complained of arriving to discover a “disorganised mini-maze of randomly placed oversized props, a lacklustre candy station that dispersed one jelly bean per child, and a terrifying chrome-masked character that scared many of the kids to tears”.
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