Glasgow Craft Beer Festival: Optimo and Southside toastie kings join line-up

Organisers announced that Optimo and Hacienda icon Greg Wilson have joined the music line-up for Glasgow Craft Beer Festival alongside the former frontman of Fun Lovin’ Criminals Huey Morgan, with all three artists set to take over SWG3’s decks for some epic DJ sets across the weekend.

Glasgow duo Optimo’s energy has long been credited with defining the city’s electronic music scene and Optimo’s club night celebrates an outstanding 25 year anniversary in 2022, marking a quarter of a century soundtracking unforgettable nights, from its beginnings in Sub Club to playing festivals around the world.

A figurehead of north England’s electronic music scene, Greg Wilson pioneered the Hacienda’s first weekly dance music night and will bring decades of experience to SWG3 this July.

Glasgow Craft Beer Festival will also showcase an exceptional food offering from some of Scotland’s top restaurants, with local toastie supremos Babos joining the bill, alongside pizza specialists Beirm and burger aficionados El Perro Negro.

A mainstay in Shawlands, locally-owned Babos have hit the headlines with their signature toasties, concocting everything from the Toastie Crunch, dipped in garlic and chilli batter and deep fried, to their classic Cheesy Beano Toastie.

Known for reinventing the wheel when it comes to comfort food, Babos takes toasties seriously and their pop-up at Glasgow Craft Beer Festival will allow festival goers from across Scotland to try their famous sandwiches.

Babos and Beirm will join El Perro Negro, winners of the UK National Burger Awards in 2019 and 2021, at SWG3 to delight beer drinkers with a host of outstanding street food options.

The chance to explore over 30 world class craft brewers, tickets include all your beer for the session, meaning fans can find their perfect tipple whether it’s lagers, IPAs or even chocolate stouts. Each five hour session will feature DJ sets, a taste of the city’s legendary culinary scene and of course, good beer from around the globe.

We Are Beer run craft beer festivals across London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol, and have added Glasgow to their roster for 2022.

Co-founder of We Are Beer, Greg Wells said: “We’re excited to announce the next wave of our line-up and are ecstatic to have local legends like Optimo join us at SWG3 in July. Their energy and reputation is unmatched and we truly can’t wait to see them take to the decks in their hometown.

“Likewise, we’re thrilled to host some of the finest street food vendors in Glasgow at the festival, and we’re sure fans will have a lot of fun trying out Babos and El Perro Negro’s incredible offering. It’s shaping up to be a festival bill packed with international and local offerings, and we can’t wait to open the doors in under two months.”

John Devlin, Babos founder, added: "We can't wait to bring our signature toasties to Glasgow Craft Beer Festival - it's been a crazy couple of years for our business and we're excited to show festival fans what the Babos buzz is all about. We hope some of our regulars can come along to SWG3 this summer and enjoy a classic Babos toastie alongside some incredible beer - see you there!"

The Glasgow Craft Beer Festival will make its city debut from July 8-9 in its new home at SWG3 across three different sessions.

Get tickets HERE.