Beers and bars announced for Worthing Tap Takeover 2026 – passionately independent and town-wide

The passionately independent tap takeover was launched by Gemma Clegg and Gareth Harries at Beer No Evil and Laurence Dumbleton at The Old Bike Store in 2022 but the team organising the event has now grown to include Jim Paine at The Selden Arms, David Villiers at The Brooksteed and Graeme Roche at Bottle & Jug Dept. and The Fox and Finch.

For venues to qualify to take part, they must pour at least 50 per cent independent beer all year round. This includes all draft items across cask and keg, and covering the full spectrum of beer, cider and lager.

Gemma said: “There are 20 venues taking part this year, so it’s looking to be another successful year. We have some new venues getting involved, which is great to still be growing.

"It means we have both new venues opening and other venues actively changing their business model to support independent breweries.

"In 2025, it continued to be a turbulent year for hospitality and 2026 seems to have started in a similar fashion. We have seen some venues moving towards pouring macro beer rather than supporting independent breweries, and because of this, these venues are no longer included in the Worthing Tap Takeover.”

Worthing’s fifth town-wide tap takeover will take place from Friday, April 10, to Sunday, April 12.

The nature of the tap takeover means each venue chooses their own brewery to pour and develop new relationships with that brewery. This allows them to showcase their own, unique style – or try something completely new.

Gemma said: "Worthing has an impressive reputation for supporting independent craft beer and we’ve continued to grow as a destination for the indie beer scene. And part of this is due to the Worthing Tap Takeover.

"In the spirit of continuing supporting independent breweries, we have again stipulated a brewery which has been included previously cannot be part of this year's event. One of the main things people said about last year’s event is how much they enjoyed tasting beers from different breweries, some they had never heard of before.

"It’s been amazing to see the Worthing Tap Takeover continue to grow and we’re excited to have new venues getting involved. It's down to Worthing’s independent community – it has a great collaborative spirit and the tap takeover is one of the best examples of it.”

Beer lovers will find new takes on old favourites, and those embracing the weird and wonderful will have plenty to try, too – from rich barrel-aged stouts to Belgian-inspired ales and mouth-watering sours.

For more details and a map, visit worthingtaptakeover.co.uk or follow @worthingtto on Instagram or Worthing Tap Takeover on Facebook.