Ballarat has staked its claim as a hot ticket on the summer festival circuit following the resounding success of its inaugural Beer Festival.

The Saturday afternoon event held at Ballarat’s City Oval was supported by a glorious sunny and warm day, perfect for enjoying the many locally produced beers on offer alongside top quality live music. The ideal conditions brought along a larger crowd than anticipated. More than 3000 tickets were pre-sold, but the size of the walk-up queue was an extra delight for the festival’s organisers. With a capacity of 5000, up to 6000 patrons were rotated through the festival. However, a few hundred people seeking to buy tickets on arrival had to be turned away when the event was declared to be sold out at 2:00pm.

So much was the size of the crowd unexpected that many of the brewers ran very low or completely out of beer early in the afternoon.

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http://www.brewsnews.com.au/2012/01/9280/