Glasgow coffee festival returns: meet the female roastery owners leading the way
Catherine Franks, the founder of Steampunk in North Berwick, will now be one of the exhibitors at the Glasgow Coffee Festival in May, which will return for the first time in two years.
She was scheduled to attend the event in 2020 but it was cancelled due to the pandemic. She didn’t even ask festival founder Lisa Lawson, of Glasgow’s Dear Green Coffee, for a refund because she was confident the event would resume one day.
For the first time in two years, the seventh annual Glasgow festival will be held indoors due to pandemic disruption.
And this time, Ms Lawson, the event’s organiser and founder, says the event will help put Glasgow’s thriving coffee scene on the international stage.
Over 40 exhibitors, including Steampunk, will showcase what makes Glasgow’s coffee scene one of the best in the UK, and the festival will be entirely free of single-use cups to promote sustainability.
The two-day speciality coffee event, produced by Dear Green Coffee Roasters, will return to the Briggait after a two-year hiatus.
On May 7 and 8, the former fish market hall will host coffee professionals from across the country who will demonstrate their products, abilities, and passion for coffee to thousands of coffee enthusiasts.
Mossgiel Organic Farm, Modern Standard, Bare Bones, and Faodail Roastery are just a few of the over 20 businesses that have already registered to participate – with registrations still open.
Ms Franks has temporarily parked her VW campervan and is focusing on Steampunk Roastery and Café in North Berwick. She expresses excitement about becoming a part of Glasgow’s growing coffee community.
“We’ve attended the festival as guests, but this will be our first time as exhibitors,” Ms Franks, who is originally from Washington, DC, explained. “We are celebrating our tenth year of roasting our own coffee, which I began in my garage before relocating to our current location in North Berwick.
“We are fortunate to be in a holiday town with a high number of day trippers and a town that acts as a magnet for people, but I believe that coming to Glasgow will have a great atmosphere and we look forwards to serving our coffee and having people try it.”
