Brewery lineup announced for inaugural Langford Beer Festival

With just over two weeks to go until Langford, B.C.’s inaugural beer festival, organizers are offering up a taste of what’s in store as they reveal the list of breweries that will be on tap.

Festival participants Sooke Oceanside Brewery, Category 12 Brewing, and Lighthouse Brewing Company served up samples at Cascadia Liquor in Langford on Monday.

They will all be at the festival next month, with more than 40 other B.C. breweries serving up 80 kinds of craft beer and cider.

"About 80 per cent of our roster is from the island, which is really awesome. We really tried to focus on the South Island, making sure we include all of the West Shore,” said Victoria Beer Society event manager Rebecca Craig.

“We probably have about 30 breweries from the island.”

Organizers say tickets for the event are already about 75 per cent sold out, and they expect it won’t be long before the rest get snatched up, too.

“I can tell the Langford crowd is thirsty and they’re really wanting us to be out there,” said Craig.

“We’re going to have live music – we have two bands on the lineup – food trucks, and we're going to have some awesome lawn games, some fun summer treats, and we have an ice cream truck coming so I think it’s going to be a great summer beer festival."

The festival’s complete beer list is expected to be announced in the coming days.

The Langford Beer Festival takes place July 16 at Starlight Stadium from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Tickets and a full list of participating breweries are available on the Victoria Beer Society’s website.