Beer festival risk assessment: a practical guide

A beer festival is an event where the main attraction is a drug. That isn't a moral point — it's a planning one: intoxication changes how your crowd behaves, how they respond to instructions, and how they get home. The assessment needs to take that seriously without being po-faced about it.

Licensing comes first

Get the licensing route settled before anything else, because it constrains your scale and your timeline. In England and Wales a Temporary Event Notice covers up to 499 people at any one time — including staff and volunteers — for up to 168 hours, with at least ten working days' notice to the council (and there are limits on how many you can use per premises per year). Above 499, you need a premises licence, which takes months and involves consultation and possible hearings.

That 499 figure includes everyone on site, which surprises people. If you expect 450 punters plus 60 volunteers and staff, you are over. Scotland and Northern Ireland operate different regimes — occasional licences in Scotland under the 2005 Act, and separate NI liquor licensing — so check your own jurisdiction's rules.

Intoxication: the risk you're actually managing

• Refusal and challenge. It is an offence to sell alcohol to someone who is drunk, and to a person under 18. Brief every server on Challenge 25 and on refusing service, agree who backs them up, and keep a refusals log. Volunteers find refusal hard — make it clear it's expected and supported.
• Measures and strength. Third-pint and half-pint measures, clear ABV labelling on every pump clip, and tasting notes that tell people what they're drinking. Strong beer served in pints is where trouble starts.
• Food and water. Free drinking water must be available, and substantial food genuinely reduces incidents. Both are cheap risk controls.
• Welfare and vulnerability. A quiet space, a named welfare lead, and a plan for someone who is unwell or separated from their group. Intoxicated people are vulnerable people.
• Getting home. Think about the last hour and the hour after: taxi arrangements, transport links, and a dispersal route that doesn't push a large intoxicated crowd through a residential street at once.

Glass, gas and the cellar

Glassware is a genuine injury source at drinking events. Many councils and licensing officers will expect polycarbonate or toughened glass for outdoor or large events; branded souvenir glasses are traditional at beer festivals, so if you want them, be ready to justify it and to have a plan for breakages and a glass collection regime.

Gas. Cellar and dispense gas — CO₂ and mixed gas — is an asphyxiation hazard in confined spaces. Cylinders secured upright, stored and used in ventilated areas, and consider CO₂ monitoring for any enclosed cellar or container. Staff should know the symptoms and never enter a space where a cylinder has leaked.

Casks and manual handling. A full firkin is around 72kg. Stillaging, tilting and moving casks injures backs and crushes fingers every year — plan the lifts, use the right equipment, and don't let enthusiastic volunteers improvise.

Crowd, site and the council

Beer festivals concentrate people at bars, which creates crush points and blocked circulation. Design bar frontage generously, keep queues away from exits and gangways, and keep emergency routes genuinely clear rather than nominally so. If you're in a marquee, get the structure's wind loading and a documented plan for what happens when it's exceeded.

Expect the council's licensing and environmental health teams to take an interest, and possibly a Safety Advisory Group referral for anything sizeable. Noise is the most common complaint driver — have a noise management plan with finish times you'll actually keep to. Fold it all into an event management plan so the authorities see one coherent document.

Common questions

Does the 499 limit on a Temporary Event Notice include staff?

Yes. The limit is on the number of people present at the premises at any one time, and that includes staff, volunteers, bar crew and performers — not just paying customers. Exceeding it puts you outside the notice and in breach. If your headcount is anywhere near 499, either design the event down or apply for a premises licence, which needs months of lead time.

Do we have to use plastic glasses?

There is no blanket legal requirement, but licensing authorities can and do attach conditions requiring polycarbonate or toughened glass, particularly for outdoor events, large events, or venues with a history of disorder. Discuss it with the licensing officer early. If souvenir glassware matters to your festival, come with a proposal — glass collection, breakage procedure, no glass beyond a defined boundary — rather than just a request.

What are our duties if someone is clearly drunk?

Selling alcohol to a person who is drunk is an offence, as is knowingly allowing disorderly conduct on licensed premises. Practically: stop serving them, offer water and food, involve your welfare lead, and make sure they have a safe way home. Brief your servers in advance so that refusing is the expected behaviour rather than an awkward judgement call in the moment, and log refusals.

Do we need a personal licence holder present?

Under a Temporary Event Notice you don't need a designated premises supervisor or personal licence holder, though the person giving the notice takes responsibility. Under a premises licence, every sale must be authorised by a personal licence holder and the premises needs a designated premises supervisor. Either way, having someone experienced in licensed retail on site is sensible well beyond the legal minimum.