The pandemic has wreaked havoc on coffee events—all events really—worldwide. Pretty much the entire roster of 2020 coffee events has either been postponed, canceled, or moved to the digital space. And in Scotland, as in the rest of the world, cases are climbing headed into fall (while still being far less than the daily case count in the United States).
So what’s to be done for the Glasgow Coffee Festival? Is there a way to still celebrate a city’s coffee culture—and provide much-needed business and support to small business owners—while still being safe and mindful of COVID? In years past, the Glasgow Coffee Festival has been a weekend-long extravaganza, bringing coffee lovers and companies from across the United Kingdom, but for its sixth year, GCF organizer and and Dear Green Coffee founder Lisa Lawson is shrinking the scope but sprawling the execution. Now a 10-day event taking place between October 16th and the 25th, the festival has transformed into a “choose your own adventure” coffee tour of Glasgow.
50 shops, 10 days, and a handful of online events, the Glasgow Coffee Festival is celebrating and supporting some of the area’s best independent coffee companies, while staying safe and epidemiologically mindful. A £5 ticket grants access to “unlimited deals and discounts in Glasgow’s best cafes,” per the press release. Along with Dear Green, participating shops include Spitfire Espresso, Black Pine Coffee, It All Started Here, Canary Girl Coffee, and many, many more.
The goal of the new GCF, according to Lawson, is to get folks to support not just their local coffee shop but “to discover the uniqueness of independent businesses and all of the knowledge, passion, and technical coffee skills on offer across the city,” all of which have been hit hard during COVID-19. “Your local coffee shops and roasters have been fueling your home working whilst fighting their own survival battles,” Lawson says. “Let’s show support to the amazing people behind all of these wonderful local businesses which enrich our communities and boost our local economy, by serving and roasting great coffee.”
To supplement the coffee crawling, the Glasgow Coffee Festival will be hosting a handful of online events across the 10-day timeframe, and sponsors Dear Green, La Marzocco UK, Safe2Go, and Indy Coffee Guide will be doling out prizes and giveaways.
For more information the the slate of events and the participating companies or to purchase your ticket, visit the Glasgow Coffee Festival’s official website and follow them on Instagram. Stay safe, drink coffee.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
