International beer, music festival takes over coastal Qingdao

Sun, sea, sand, music and beer are ushering in a carnival spirit in Qingdao, Shandong province, which is holding its 27th beer festival from Aug 4-27. Six of Qingdao's districts and sub-cities will offer venues for visitors to try out more than 200 different beers from around the world.

Feng Wenqing, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Qingdao Sub-council, said that the Qingdao International Beer Festival has become a name card for the city's internationalization since it was first held in 1991.

With the slogan of "Qingdao ganbei (drinks) with the world", the festival has become a large-scale event featuring tourism, culture, trading and sports, Feng said at a news conference before the opening ceremony on Aug 4.

Feng said that the Qingdao event is one of the world's four most important beer festivals, alongside those held in Munich in Germany, London in the United Kingdom and Denver in the United States.

The festival organizers have set up six major venues in the Huangdao, Laoshan and Licang districts, and Jimo, Jiaozhou and Pingdu sub-cities. Qingdao's major districts of Shinan, Shibei and Chenyang, and Laixi sub-city have also organized beer-themed events.

Feng said organizers have placed an emphasis on improving services to provide more convenience for tourists.

More than 15,000 parking spots have been earmarked for events across the six venues. And more buses have been made available for travel to and from the venues.

The organizers also applied Internet Plus and new media tools to establish network video monitoring, emergency broadcasting and visitor flow rate monitoring systems.

Location, ticket booking and activities information will be released on the festival's official smartphone application.

Huangdao district

The Huangdao venue is located at Huangdao district's Golden Beach Beer City, where celebrations will last until Aug 27.

The organizers of the Huangdao district event said that the focus was on hosting a musical beer festival. They've invited bands from around the world: Squonk Opera and The Strike are from the United States and Strange Fruit from Australia. The three bands are all performing in China for the first time and will play alongside Chinese bands. The musical events will have a different theme every week, whether pop, rock or country music.

The Huangdao district venue has set up eight beer tents, offering famous German and US beer brands, as well as Qingxi Jinpi, a home-brewed beer created especially for the event.

For the first time in the event's history, a craft brewery producing draft beer will debut, ofering customers the best quality and taste.

Laoshan district

Laoshan district's beer festival venue will kick of on Aug 11 and last for 17 days. It is located on three squares at Century Square, south of Miaoling Road and north of Haikou Road.

According to Liu Hongtao, Qingdao beer festival's office director, Laoshan district will set up seven beer tents, two bars, four German style beer gardens, and a movable draft beer brewery established by the Tsingtao Brewery Group.

The seven beer tents or pavilions will display and sell 41 world-famous beer brands from 11 countries, including US-based Budweiser, Germany's Benediktiner Weissbier and Tsingtao Beer from the host city.

Laoshan district's beer venue alone takes up 100,000 square meters.

During the festival, organizers will hold activities such as a beer king and goddess contest, a light show, fireworks, a masked ball and an artistic parade.

Licang district

The district's celebrations will last from Aug 5 to 27 in the Expo Park. Six beer pavilions have been set up. The carnival area takes up 300,000 square meters. Nine events are expected, including cultural and folk performances, local food feasts and shopping, to boost the happy festival atmosphere in the northern part of the city.

Jimo city

Festival events will last from July 29 to Aug 13 in Jimo Ancient City. Apart from beer bars, visitors can find a characteristic snacks street, an ancient architectural style commercial street, and entertainment areas.

Besides an opening and closing ceremony, the area will host an artistic parade and an old photo exhibition, to forge a unique beer party in an ancient city style.

Jiaozhou city

The city will hold 10 days of celebrations from July 26 to Aug 6 in the Jiaozhou National Economic and Technological Development Zone. Visitors will be accommodated in a 1,500-square-meter pavilion offering beer, food and performances, as well as auto and light shows, and an area for kids. At the same time, visitors can experience ecological tourism and pick peaches in Jiaobei, part of the area's countryside.

Pingdu city

This part of Qingdao will set up a venue for more than 1,000 people to drink beer, eat local food and buy local specialties in Shengshuifujin Park, and Tianqiao Smart Agriculture Park from Aug 12 to 27.

Tianqiao has established a beer history and local foods area, as well as an exhibition of the area's tourism resources such as Daze Mountain, Tianzhu Mountain and Sanhe Mountain.

Other areas

A total of 19 related activities including water games, beer brewing contests and grape picking will be available in Qingdao's Laixi city and Shinan, Shibei, Licang and Chengyang districts from June to November. The carnival atmosphere will continue for most of the second half of the year.

chenmeiling@chinadaily.com.cn