Darlington Beer Festival at Hopetown to return for 2026

The festival returned for the first time since Covid earlier this year but infamously ran out of beer, forcing bosses to scrap its final day at the Hopetown Railway Museum.

But organiser CAMRA has now confirmed it will return to Hopetown, armed with even more beer, from Friday, March 20 until Sunday, March 22, 2026.

The festival infamously ran out of beer this year (Image: Stuart Boulton/The Northern Echo)

CAMRA said: “After the overwhelming success of 2025’s festival, where we saw an unprecedented amount of Real Ale fans visit after it had been cancelled since Covid, yes we ran out of beer, the show of support has motivated the CAMRA Beer Festival Committee to go bigger and better for 2026.

“More Real Ale from some fantastic suppliers, additional keg taps, an increased real Cider selection and more street food on offer.

The festival will have more beer next year (Image: Stuart Boulton/The Northern Echo)

“50+ Real Ale, Cider and Craft Ale will be on the bar, including wine and soft drinks.”

CAMRA has also said it will be implementing a “session-based” online ticket system to help with managing numbers, admitting it struggled with it this year.

It said this will help with “atmosphere, ease of entry and seating availability”.

Darlington Beer Festival will return in 2026 (Image: CAMRA)

A Home Brew Challenge will take place on the final day of the festival, with more information about this being released soon.

Tickets for the festival will be on sale before Christmas.

To keep up to date on plans for Darlington Beer Festival, you can visit the CAMRA Darlington on Instagram and Facebook.