Bristol is packed with a great number of independent coffee shops all offering something different to customers, whether that be a range of ways of roasting beans to quirky ways of using them, each has something to offer.
But with such a big scene, how does the city, unlike many others around the country, not have its own coffee festival? Back in 2018, 19 and 20 Bristol did have it's own festival, the Coffee House Project, before the co-founders decided to sell the project. But now, after a couple of years, Bristol will be getting a new festival dedicated to the caffeinated drink.
Joana Vieiralves Wood, from Brazil, has taken on the immense task of creating and running the city’s own coffee festival, which will showcase the drink's talent from across the area. Joana said: “I kept thinking, someone needs to do it. And I thought, I’m going to do it. Why not?”
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Living in Lawrence Hill with her husband and young son, with her second child on the way, Joana has been working in the industry for the past seven years and is Head of Coffee at the Bristol Loaf cafes.
Speaking about how she thought the festival will benefit the city, she said: “I think first of all, it’s not just good for Bristol, I think it will be good for the coffee industry itself.”
Joana attended a coffee festival in London last year and found she was buying coffee that had been made here in the south west. She said: “I went to London Coffee Festival and got a bag of Clifton coffee. Bristol and the south west is one of the main coffee hubs in the UK.”
While plans are still underway the festival is set to take place on the September 9, between 9am to 5pm, at Bristol Beacon.
One key point Joana hopes to make at the festival is that you can make a career in coffee. She said: “One thing I really want to talk about, and I think it’s going to be one of the panel's, is about careers in coffee. I think a lot of people get this limited idea that if you are a barista you don’t have anywhere to go.”
She added: “You have so many different ways you can go, you can work with green coffee importers, you can train people, you can work roasting coffee, there’s a lot. I want to be able to put this bug in people's hearts that just like they can, they can do more than just art.”
Early bird tickets have now sold out but if you’re still interested in going you are in luck. General tickets are expected to go on sale during June, with tickets costing £16 and there’s even a token that will give you a free coffee.
Find out more about Bristol Coffee Festival here.
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