2023 Festival FAQ's
Ticketing & Entry
Unfortunately we're unable to offer pass outs due to our licence, so there will be no re-admittance if you leave.
The Festival will attract around 12,500 across both days, that’s over 6,000 a day! We limit numbers to ensure it’s a great experience for all.
GA entry point for the festival is Gate D.
Hop The Queue ticket entry is via Gate E.
Disability Access will be via Gate E.
Forsyth Barr Stadium members will enter through Gate B
Exit is available through Gate C or D or E.
- Alcohol - Obviously no. But there's plenty inside.
- Food - Again, no, unless for an infant, or special dietary requirements.
- Folding Chairs – We’d rather not, unless they are small and discrete ones please. There is seating inside.
- Bean Bags - No, really rather you didn’t.
- Umbrellas - Sort of. We are lucky enough to have the only stadium in NZ with a roof. Umbrellas are not allowed into the venue, but if the weathers pretty average outside, then they can be dropped at gate entry into the bins provided, at the owners own risk.
- Glass bottles (including perfume/ after shave/ etc). Sorry, but no. These will be DISPOSED of, so please apply before leaving home.
- Camera's. Yes, your standard camera's all good. But no professional gear without prior arrangement please.
- For security purposes - backpacks, sports bags and anything larger than a handbag - sorry!
Click the button on the homepage of our website, and follow the link. All tickets are sold through Moshtix.
Your GA (incl Student GA) ticket includes entry into the festival, a festival glass, a digital currency wristband, as well as the opportunity to sample some of the best beer, wine, cider and food New Zealand has on offer. Plus some top notch kiwi entertainment across a number of stages..... check out the 'Artists' page for more details.
Hop the Queue tickets get above, plus own private entrance, a pre-loaded wristband, and a guaranteed ticket for next years Festival.
Don’t forget to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated!
Sorry, but not much we can do. Head to Moshtix via our homepage to see if there's any still up for grabs. If not you’ll need to join the waitlist in the hope of some getting returned.
Good luck!
BF stands for booking fee. This is a surcharge on ticket purchases, as charged by the ticketing company. It doesn’t mean you can bring your Best Friend/Boyfriend along for free!
YES! We have limited U18 tickets available for Saturday ONLY. Even though children (infants right through to 17 years old) are free, they will need an U18 ticket to enter the festival, as this number affects our maximum capacity.
For Children 0-17 year olds, tickets are are offered as an add-on once you have purchased your adult entry tickets. You can add up to a maximum of four U18 tickets per adult ticket transaction.
But remember Friday’s event is strictly R18 ONLY.
#1: General Admission Tickets (Fri OR Sat) - $65.00 (inclusive of Booking Fee)
#2: Tertiary Student Tickets (Fri OR Sat) - $55.00 (inclusive of Booking Fee)
#3: Hop the Queue Tickets (Fri OR Sat) - $120.00 (inclusive of Booking Fee)
#4: U18 Ticket (Sat ONLY) - $0
Tasting Room Sessions presented by Wealth Protection Specialists
The Tasting Sessions are an integral part of our Dunedin Craft Beer and Food Festival, both during the Festival, but also throughout the year in and around Dunedin. These are essentially seminars (food & beverage focused) where we encourage our festival family to engage in an Tasting Room experience themed around specific Food and Beverages that largely align with the festival.
Check out all our Tasting Room seminar information via the Tasting Rooms page on this website - head to top of page and the drop-down menu.
To purchase a ticket to one of the on-site Festival sessions, simply add it to your initial ticket purchase. Numbers are strictly limited per session, so don’t miss out!
The Tasting Room Sessions take place in the Otago Daily Times Lounge, second level of the Speights Stand. Access to the lounge is through the Speights Stand. You’ll need to use the entranceway on the pitch approx. halfway along the Speights Stand side. Give yourself a good five minutes to get there on time, or take 10, and enjoy a bird's eye view of the festival from the stands.
And then keep an eye out on our socials across the rest of the year for our regular programme of Tasting Rooms in and around Dunedin.
We are not sending out tickets yet. Keep your eyes peeled though, you will receive an email with your tickets closer to the event date.
Moshtix tickets are electronically sent and accessible, attached as a PDF in your inbox (once they are released) and as well as sitting in your Moshtix account, with the same email used to book.
From the website you can access your mobile ticket so you can get your QR code scanned in at the gate, and on the website you can download your tickets to your device or print them out.
Either way, make sure you have your ticket on your device (or printed if you still like the good ole fashioned way) and ready to be scanned at gate.
Having trouble with ticketing, accessing your Moshtix account, no worries, our good mates from Moshtix are here to help.
Check out their support page. Hopefully you'll find what you're looking for.
Re-selling your ticket with Moshtix has never been easier!
Ticket holders can now sell their tickets directly to their friends, family or colleagues using Moshtix's new Private Resale Feature. This is the safest and most secure way to re-sell your festival tickets and will be the only resale platform we encourage.
To access resale, simply log into your Moshtix customer account using the same email you used to originally purchase your tickets. Then simply navigate to your tickets and select resell my ticket. You'll then be guided through the rest of the process.
A few key points to remember:
* To buy a ticket that has been listed for resale, the buyer will need to visit the unique resale link that the seller has provided. Click that to find the resale tickets, select the tickets you want to buy and complete your purchase on the Moshtix purchase flow.
* When listing a ticket for resale, the seller can list it for up to 110% of the price they paid for the ticket (excluding any transaction fees, delivery fees and optional ticket upgrades paid).
* Resale can be made available at all times, even during your event! Any ticket that has been scanned is not able to be listed for resale, or purchased via resale.
* There is a service fee applicable when listing tickets for resale which will be deducted from the resale ticket price paid by the buyer. The service fee is applied per ticket listed, and is displayed when listing the ticket so the seller can see exactly how much they will receive from the sale of their ticket.
By the way, if you want to re-sell your ticket, it better be for a bloody good reason, as this year's festival is a must ;)
Friday
Doors open 3pm and you can enjoy yourself until 10pm (but please note we stop serving alcohol at 9.30pm)
Saturday
Doors open at 12pm and you can enjoy yourself until 7pm (please note we stop serving alcohol at 6.30pm)
Digital Festival Program
You're on it right now. Simply navigate around this site on your mobile device when you're in attendance on the day. It's got all the info you need from site map, to who's playing when & where, plus a full list of what's on offer both beverage and culinary wise under the My Festival section.
You can navigate your way around the many delights on offer using our digital festival site - you're on it right now. By the time the festival rolls around, you will be able to check out the full range of vendors, where they are on site, and most importantly what they have to offer. You'll also be able to like your fave's as you make your way around the Festival.
My Festival launches just before the Festival, when we have the full range of what's on offer in our mits!
By the time the festival arrives we will have all the details listed on this site. To find out what food, beers, etc are on offer, just head to the My Festival section of this website.
Head up to the 'Menu' top left hand corner and your almost home and dry.
Wristbands & Refunds
The DCBFF is a cashless environment.
You’ll get an easy-to-use electronic wristband upon arrival that you can top up with credit throughout the day. You can top up with either cash or EFTPOS (or credit card and payWave - note there is a 2.5% surcharge for these methods).
Then once loaded, all it takes to transfer credit on or off your wristband is you holding your wristband under the machine, easy as.
* Please note there is a one-off $3.50 activation fee when you first top-up your wristband.
The Festival is charged a one-off activation fee for each wristband upon first top up. This is standard practice at most events using this or similar technology. It pays for the development and on site delivery of the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification - I know, fancy as eh) wristband technology at the event.
You get your digital wristband as you enter the stadium. From there you can use cash or EFTPOS (or payWave/Apple Pay) to top it up at the Top Up Bank located at Gate E, or with a mobile top up person who will be floating around the festival site in blue high vis tops.
Please note there is a one-off $3.50 activation fee when you first top-up your wristband. (Credit card and PayWave top-ups incur a 2.5% surcharge).
Its super fast and simple to get your wristband as you walk into the stadium, but you also have the BONUS option of picking up your wristband early by popping into the OUSA main office and preloading some funds – this means once you get into the stadium you can get straight into the food and bevvies.
We will have a walk-in service for pre-loading:
OUSA main office – 640 Cumberland Street.
Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd November
9:00am – 6:00pm
Just bring along your tickets so we know which wristbands to give you!
BONUS bonus tip:
If you have a group of mates or colleagues and want to load your bands in bulk – flick us an email at ousa@ousa.org.nz,we can have your order ready and waiting at the OUSA main office the week of the festival for you to pay in one go. Easy as!
Cash/EFTPOS/Credit accepted.
Please note there is a one-off $3.50 activation fee when you first top-up your wristband. You must be topping up a wristband with funds if you want to pick it up early, no blank bands given out sorry!
Top Up will finish ONE hour prior to the close of the Festival.
So 9pm on the Friday and 6pm on the Saturday.
You will still be able to get a last-minute top up from the mobile top up personnel in the blue Hi-Viz tops. They can help you out until 9.30pm Friday and 6.30pm Saturday.
The sky is the limit!
From $1 to $1000, topping up is 100% flexible to give you exactly what you want!
And what you don’t spend you can get re-credited, or donate to our Festival Charity. Check out the Charity page of this site to see who our chosen local charity is this year.
You can definitely get a refund if you don’t use all your credit on your digital wristband.
You can either:
- Do it on the day of the event at the onsite Top Up Bank for free.
- Or you can do it online through WAYVER's website for up to 1 week post festival. Fees may apply.
- Or, alternatively, you can donate your remaining credit to our Festival Charity as you exit the festival. Representatives will be present to assist you!
Just make sure you don’t throw your band away, you will need the unique code written on the back.
You sure can. Just ask our awesome staff after any purchase to give you your current balance, alternatively you can check it at the Wayver top up bank or with any roaming Wayver staff member.
Alcohol, Drinks & Cups
Sorry, but nope!
We don’t have an off-venue license, so anything purchased at the festival must be consumed at the festival.
But many of our breweries/ distilleries have online shops, so check them out post event.
This event is first and foremost more about beer tasting, than hard out beer drinking. With so many excellent breweries offering their wares, we recommend you branch out and try a whole spectrum of different beers!
Remember to drink plenty of water throughout your stay as well.
Friday, the limit is four drinks per transaction. If you can carry more than this, we'd be pretty impressed.
Saturday. Go for it, carry as many as you feel physically possible, though the the stall's duty manager might help you out and impose a limit to stop any spillages occurring.
On either day, we may limit the number of drinks per person per transaction if we felt the need to at any point during the Festival.
75ml is a taster measure
100ml for wine pours
150ml for HALF pour
330ml is for FULL pours.
Ooops. You can purchase a new cup for $3 from the info/ merch tent. Phew!
We have a great range of alternatives to beer at our festival.
We are first and foremost a Craft Beer and Food Festival. So our main focus is on Beer.
But, there are plenty of other wares and fares on offer. This includes numerous wine and cider options, a wee dram of spirits, or a cheeky cocktail, as well as juice, coffee and soft drinks if you’re not drinking alcohol on the day or just need a breather.
And then of course the free water stations scattered throughout the festival. Keep hydrated, last the distance and enjoy your day!
Last drinks are poured at 9.30pm on Friday and 6:30pm on Saturday.
So make sure you’ve sampled everything you want to prior to this time.
Absolutely! That’s one of our main goals, and we aim to have lots of special beers at our festival that you can’t find on store shelves. Ask previous attendees and they’ll confirm that our brewers bring the goods for this event.
Each year the previous year’s Homebrew Competition winner gets the opportunity to lay down their recipe with the master brewers at Emerson's. The resulting brew is this years Festival Brew!
The 2022 winning entry was a Witber, "JENNY'S WIT" , submitted by Olly Rudd.
You’ll have the chance to sample the flavours and tones of this brew for yourself at this year’s festival, just head to the Emerson's site. Tell them we sent you!
Cheers Olly for providing the official Festival Brew for the 2023 Dunedin Craft Beer & Food Festival!
Food, Coffee & Non-Alcoholic Options?
There are free water stations scattered throughout the festival site. So, we encourage you to swill your Festival cup out, and then refill with bountiful freshwater.
Keep hydrated, last the distance and enjoy your day.
Definitely! Everyone should be catered for.
We have a range of vegetarian and gluten free options. To make it really easy for you, we’ve indicated in the Food section of the My Festival section of this website which stalls have vegetarian fare and/or gluten free, or other dietary goodies.
As many of our chefs are still preparing what they they will be bringing along to the Festival, this info won't available until much closer to the Festival date.
The My Festival section of this website details all stalls, and what they will be selling.
But as the majority of our brewers, chefs, etc are still preparing what they they will be bringing along to the Festival, this info won't available until much closer to the Festival date.
General Festival
We are fizzing to present this star powered artist line-up for this years Festival.
Leading the charge is New Zealand music royalty, Sir Dave Dobbyn . We are extremely lucky to have Sir Dave grace the DCBFF stage for a second time, after delivering a show stopping performance in 2017 (we like to call him loyal). Equally excited to have Wellington based Louis Baker performing his groovy, soulful tunes as well as the multi-award winning artist, Jenny Mitchell. To top off the stacked line up, we have the incredible Tahu & the Takahes, the high energy Edmond Brothers and local jazz group, Niche.
This is a diverse line-up of New Zealand's best musical talent and we can't wait to kick things off on the 3rd and 4th of November.
For more info, check out the artists page - head to the drop down menu top left of this page.
We're working on it, but all in good time! Once finalised, site map will be loaded onto the Festival Info page of this website once finalised.
Absolutely!
All vendors will be using compostable packaging products such as plates and utensils and all beverage vendors will be pouring into the official festival glass. With these measures, along with clearly labelled bins, and utilisation of a robust recycling system, we hope to produce minimal waste.
Please help us with this by using the right bins!
If you don’t want to keep your festival glass at the end of the day, just pop it in the labelled bin and they will be sent back to a recycling facility to be given a new life somewhere else.
If you do happen to misplace any of your things throughout the day, we have a dedicated area where you can go to be reunited with your stuff! See the Information/Lost Property stall on the day. It will also have a coat check service, so be sure to check here before you leave if you have lost anything – it’ll be well signposted and on the festival map so you ought to be able to find it, no sweat.
If you find yourself without your jacket, or other personal items after you get home, you can check at the OUSA Main Office (640 Cumberland Street) to see if it is there, as all unclaimed items and lost property found will go here. But might be best to leave it a couple of days post event to ensure we've shifted everything over.
Please note their opening hours are Monday – Friday 9am – 4.30pm.
Yes, there will be a kids area - check out the site map on the Festival Website for location).
Please bear in mind this is not a crèche, but an area with some child friendly focused activities.
Please note - the kids zone will be open on Saturday only. Friday being a strictly R18 event.
Yes! Mobility parking is in the SH88 carpark opposite Gate E entry. There are two disability toilets on the north concourse and two on the ODT slab.
Wherever you feel comfortable within the public area of Festival. There is a change table in each of the mobility toilets - 2 on ODT slab and 2 on the North Concourse.
Easily! Contact our sales team for a rate card or just to have a chat about advertising possibilities.
Flick them an email at michael@planetmedia.co.nz
If you're a sober driver then, there are some parks available directly behind the stadium (though note VERY limited on the Friday as this is leased parking). Or around Logan Park. Either way we recommend coming early to find the best spots around the Logan Park area or beside the harbour.
Non-Sober drivers. Leave the car at home, and check out our suggestions under the transport options FAQ!
We strongly encourage the use of public transport as Forsyth Barr Stadium is a walkable distance from central Dunedin where you will find plenty of bus connections from all corners of the city. Check out the Otago Regional Council's bus journey planner if you don't believe us <here>.
Either way, if you intend to sample some of the alcoholic delights on offer at the Festival, then you'll clearly will be leaving the car at home. So, we know you’ll have transport in hand, but just in case, here’s our list of reminders of other ingenious ways to travel:
- Taxis. Dunedin has plenty of them, and if your still stuck once on site, stick your head into the on-site info centre and they’ll help you out.
- Buses, again, as above. Plenty of options. Check out the info tent if still stuck at the Festival and they'll point you in the right direction.
- Walk. It’s good to walk. But walk and talk, so make sure you grab a mate or two to wander home with.
- Sober Driver. Too easy.
And then there's the not so good:
- Scooters. Mmmm. Maybe NOT. For obvious reasons.
- Bikes. Again, if you’ve been drinking, then no. For obvious reasons.
We are privileged to have Black Rock on board again as sponsors of the Dunedin Craft Beer & Food Festival Homebrew Competition, in association with our Festival ambassadors Emerson’s, and the Dunedin Malt House! All details can be found under the Homebrew tab.
This is a great opportunity to get direct feedback from industry professionals and to have the opportunity to win the right to brew next year’s festival beer! Good Luck! All winners of the various categories will get a double pass to the Festival. There are other prizes available, and all details can be found through the application process.
This year we have also introduced a new category, Emerging Brewer, for those not quite ready for the full blown comp yet. Again check out the Homebrew page.
And even if you’re not an enthusiastic homebrewer, make sure your check out the Festival Brew at the Festival.
Smoking and Vaping is ONLY permitted within the designated smoking/vaping areas Gate E & B (checkout the site map on the Festival Website for location).
You do risk been ejected from the event if you choose to smoke/ vape outside of these areas.
The Festival runs for the following times:
Friday : 3pm - 10pm
Saturday : 12pm- 7pm
