Similar to the Great Canadian Beer Festival and the Langford Beer Festival, the Bacon, Beer and Bourbon Festival has announced it will be “pressing pause” on this year’s event.
According to festival organizer Dave Bain, tariffs and the ongoing Canada-US trade war are the primary reasons for the event’s 2025 cancellation—especially considering whisky has to be produced in Kentucky to be considered bourbon.
“Due to the ban on US products, we were unable to secure bourbon commitments for the festival,” Bain told Victoria Buzz.
“We explored shifting to a whisky-focused program, but there was not enough time to deliver the level of quality we expect from our events.”
He added that he typically spends around nine months prepping and handling logistics. When the tariffs came into play, it left him with just three months to navigate how to pivot the festival.
“It was deeply disheartening to step back, but we were not willing to compromise on standards,” he explained.
Another reason the festival paused this year’s event was due to the Province canceling the BC Fairs, Festivals and Events (BCFFE) fund.
Last year, the Bacon, Beer and Bourbon Festival received $8,000 from the BCFFE fund, which if they were able to continue with this year’s event, they would not have received.
“The BCFFE program helped offset the rising costs associated with inflation,” said Bain.
“Right now, expenses are significantly up while disposable income is down, meaning we cannot just raise ticket prices to bridge the gap. Producing events has become increasingly risky with shrinking margins, which is why so many are folding.”
Another event Bain puts on in October is the Victoria International Wine Festival, which he says has been impacted as well by tariffs and funding losses, but not as directly as the Bacon, Beer and Bourbon Festival.
“The withdrawal of US wines has created opportunities for other regions to try and gain market share,” Bain explained.
“At a national level, if interprovincial tariffs are lifted, we will see a much stronger landscape for Canadian wine.”
He added that with current interprovincial trade rules, it is actually harder for a private liquor store in BC to purchase Ontario wine than it is to import international wines.
“That needs to change and hopefully will in the coming months.”
This year’s wine festival will likely focus on Canadian wines and wine countries other than the US.
This festival will also go without BCFFE funding, which they received $13,400 from last year.
Despite this funding loss, Bain’s wine festival will go ahead, business as usual this October.
“The wine festival is moving full steam ahead and shaping up to be one of our strongest years yet,” said Bain.
The Victoria International Wine Festival is scheduled to take place from October 2nd to October 4th this year.
