Cloverfest Beer Festival

Hosted by the Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce, Cloverfest was an Oktoberfest event that took place in October at Cloverdale’s Shannon Hall in Surrey.

Note: Cloverfest didn’t take place in 2019 or 2020. It doesn’t look like the event happened in 2021 or 2022 either. Hopefully it returns another year in the future.

Cloverfest at Cloverdale’s Shannon Hall

Cloverfest celebrated its second year with a fabulous afternoon and evening of fun and drinking in 2018. The Oktoberfest event was attended by a few hundred people, a number of food vendors and sixteen breweries and other adult beverage makers.

Where and When

In years when it happens, the event takes place at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds in the Shannon Hall building at 6050 176th Street. In 2018 the event was on Saturday, October 13th, from 4:00 until 9:00 pm.

It didn’t happen in 2019 or 2020, and it probably didn’t happen in 2021 or 2022 either. Hopefully it returns in 2023.

Cloverfest at Shannon Hall — Cloverfest at Cloverdale’s Shannon Hall

Cloverfest Admission

Tickets to Cloverfest in 2018 cost $25 for early-bird tickets, $35 for regular admission and $40 for VIP tickets. Regular admission included a souvenir beer-sampling mug and 2 beer tokens. VIP admission included the same plus 8 extra beer tokens (which made it a great deal).

Tokens at the event cost $2 each and most beers cost 1 token, as did the coat check. Food items and a few other things cost a bit more. Parking was free.

About Cloverfest and What to Expect

Cloverfest is a community fundraising beer tasting event that’s put on by the Cloverdale Rotary Club and Cloverdale Chamber of Commerce.

Compared to other similar events, Cloverfest is a bit more of a beer festival than an Oktoberfest event, but only slightly. There are multiple breweries, people buy beer samples with tokens and there is just a light German theme. There is a band, but no oompah music (or least not when we were there), and most people stand instead of sitting at long rows of tables. In addition, there are also small beer sampling mugs instead of beer steins.

Cloverfest is a great community event and lots of fun. It’s held at Shannon Hall at the Cloverdale Rodeo Fairgrounds and takes place in an older, almost gymnasium-style hall. A few hundred people attend each year including Rotarians and their friends, members of the Chamber of Commerce and folk from the community.

Shannon Hall gets packed with people and beer vendors at Cloverfest. There is an area with tables to sit at on one side and up a few stairs as you go in. The main action though is in the centre of the hall and all around the edges. That’s where you find the beer vendors, food stalls and everyone drinking from their sampling mugs or in line to get more.

In one corner of the hall there is a stage where a live band plays. In 2018 the entertainment was provided by the Whiskeyjays from Langley.

Food and Drink

Cloverfest is all about beer, wine, food and music, with the main focus on the beer (as would be expected at an Oktoberfest event).

People buy tokens for $2 and then exchange them for food, beer and other beverage samples.

Craft beer breweries in 2018 were Parallel 49, Howe Sound Brewing, Fuggles & Warlock, Strathcona, Foamers’ Folly, Central City, Two Wolves, Mariner Brewing, Russell, Pacific Western, White Rock Brewing, the White Rock Beach Beer Company, Persephone, Dead Frog and KPU.

Participating vendors also included De Vine Wine & Spirits, Andrew Peller, Krause Berry Farms and E&J Gallo Winery.

2018 food vendors were from Elements Casino, Stapleton Sausage and the Spent Grain Bakery.