There can be several reasons for microbreweries to participate in the Pivo na Náplavce tasting festival. The main ones include presenting the brewery and its special beers, market research, market premiere, draught volume, invitations to visit, and meetings of brewers. The possibility of feedback, not only in the form of draught volume but also from tasters’ comments, also played a role. Whether 44 participating microbreweries is a lot or a little can be the subject of many discussions. Nevertheless, this number traditionally belongs to the Pivo na Náplavce festival, and in its 12th year, it remained traditional. This is also why the participants included a group of microbreweries that regularly attend the festival year after year. The second group consisted of breweries that were previously unknown to visitors or operate exclusively on a regional basis. Either way, it was up to the visitors where they decided to taste the various beers. There were approximately two hundred to choose from.
Beer souvenirs are an inseparable part of beer, just as they are an inseparable part of this festival. In addition to those offered for free, individual breweries also sold their own corporate souvenirs (coasters and labels). Part of the Saturday program of the festival was also a beer souvenir flea market (10:00 AM – 2:00 PM), where members of the Club of Brewery Souvenir Collectors offered their surplus glasses, coasters, labels, and other items related to beer advertising. The beer flea market was led by Marek Kamlár. The interest of visitors in purchasing the exhibited items was considerable. They were also interested in festival logo t-shirts.
Since the first year, the festival organizers have promoted drinking beer from glass steins or beer glasses. This year, it was clear that they had successfully and definitively promoted this idea among both the brewers present and the visitors. Beer was exclusively served in a 0.3 l glass stein, and its purchase had already become a matter of course. This happened similarly to the Růžový máj 2024 event held on May 18, 2024, focused on promoting rosé wines, where people purchased a logoed glass without comments or doubts. The reasons, explained in both Czech and English, were published on posters at the stands. Therefore, it was not necessary to mark paying visitors with colored wristbands.
Key Details
- Edition: XII.
- Date: June 14 – 15, 2024
- Location: Rašínovo nábřeží, i.e., the Vltava riverbank – the area between Palacký Bridge and Railway Bridge in Prague 2
- Organizer: Archetyp, z. s.
- Event Goal: To introduce a wide range of interested individuals to the production of small Czech breweries and offer them direct contact with owners and brewers, to present newly established microbreweries.
- Attendance: approx. 8,000
- Participants: 44 microbreweries, approximately 200 types of beer for tasting.
- Beer Flea Market: Part of the Saturday program was a beer souvenir flea market (10:00 AM - 2:00 PM).
- Beer in Glass: Beer was exclusively served from 0.3 l glass steins; the purchase of the stein became a matter of course.
