The image of beer is changing and the product is experiencing a clear revival of interest as a tasting product (integrated into the cultural and gastronomic heritage of France, Guide Hachette de la bière, more and more present on the big tables, etc.) with an ever wider public of beer lovers.
Lille and the Hauts-de-France are the unofficial cradle of beer in France, so it was essential to finally assume the strong links between the region and its brewing culture/heritage and to make it, on the one hand, a prism of (re)discovery of the territory for the inhabitants of the Hauts-de-France, but also for tourists, and on the other hand, a lever of economic development and attractiveness for the territory and the sector.
This is how the Lille Beer Festival was born in 2017. Over the years, the event has grown and has become an eagerly awaited event, but it still has the same objective: to bring together epicureans around an emblematic regional product, to show them the know-how of the men and women who produce it and to highlight the brewing tradition of our territories.
Composed of a week of events in partner establishments and a big closing weekend with the presence of a hundred regional, national and international breweries, events, producers and talented chefs, the BAL wants to be the annual meeting of the brewing culture and taste.
This project targets the general public from the Hauts-de-France, the Paris region and nearby Belgium.
The brewing industry is experiencing an unprecedented boom with an increasing number of breweries. The Hauts-de-France region is no exception to the rule and sees new breweries and a multitude of beers blooming everywhere. However, the multiplication of this offer on the whole territory implies that every beer lover (and more widely of good things) has potentially at least a brewery near his home.
The Beer Festival in Lille aims to make these breweries known, to promote the know-how of the brewers, and to encourage the exchange between passionate producers and curious consumers. Moreover, the growing presence of chefs on the event allows to highlight the strong links between beer and gastronomy, in particular by revealing the wide culinary potential of beer.
Knowing a product better, identifying its producers better and understanding the know-how of a profession better, are determining elements in the consumer’s informed choice and therefore an important factor in eating better. Beer is a central element of our regional gastronomic heritage and the BAL proposes to reveal its facets to the widest possible audience.
