On the evening of August 15, the closing gala of the 36th Qingdao International Beer Festival was held at the Golden Beach Beer City in West Coast New Area, marking the successful conclusion of the 30-day summer carnival. All venues will maintain the long-term driving effect of the event and operate regularly to build a “never-ending beer festival”.
With the theme of “Cheers to the World from Qingdao”, this year’s festival set up three major venues in West Coast New Area, Laoshan District and old Qingdao urban area, while various districts and county-level cities launched featured beer carnivals. Adhering to classics while pursuing innovation, the festival featured stronger international influence, richer cultural experiences and diverse trendy activities. It boosted consumption vitality through beer culture and further polished Qingdao’s brand as “China’s Beer Capital”.
During the festival, the West Coast venue received 7.18 million visitors and saw a beer consumption volume of over 3,040 tons. It hosted a wealth of activities including beer tasting, cultural performances, sports events and economic and trade exchanges. A total of 430 beer brands with 2,342 craft beer products from nearly 50 countries and regions made an appearance. The festival staged 11 sports events and more than 850 cultural performances, attracting nearly 460 merchants. Equipped with intelligent robot facilities, the venue delivered a smarter travel experience for visitors.
Positioned as an integration of “beer, fashion and romance”, the Laoshan venue tailored diverse experiences for visitors of all ages by building themed parks for youth socializing, parent-child entertainment and family gatherings. It upgraded cultural and technological experiences by introducing immersive VR projects and setting up robot-guided cultural and creative supermarkets, creating a new integrated model of technology, cultural tourism and consumption.
Centering on Zhongshan Road, the old urban venue connected more than ten landmark attractions. It showcased the urban renewal achievements of Zhongshan Road historic district with various performances, markets and public welfare activities. The old urban area received 3.98 million visitors, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%, with a single-day peak of 195,000 visitors. The beer consumption reached 248,000 liters, driving over 100 million yuan in comprehensive consumption. For the first time, the festival expanded offshore by launching the country’s first cruise-themed beer festival on the Dream cruise ship.
After the 30-day grand carnival, the vitality of the beer festival will continue. The Golden Beach Beer City will operate on a regular basis, integrate catering, tourism, shopping and entertainment businesses, and launch seasonal themed activities all year round. The old urban venue will further enrich the integrated development model of “beer, cultural tourism, innovation, business and people’s livelihood” to continuously empower urban high-quality development.
Editor: Wang Kai/ Yi Tao/ Yu Ruixin/ Cao Sen/ Wang Yulin
