The West Coast venue of this year's Qingdao International Beer Festival will host a special SCO Week during the course of the event, according to the management of the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area (SCODA). Jointly organized by the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the Qingdao Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the SCODA Administrative Committee, and the Qingdao West Coast New Area (QWCNA) Administrative Committee, the initiative aims to integrate cultural and tourism resources from Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states to serve as a focused platform to showcase SCO elements while enhancing Qingdao's international presence and brand value as the 2024–2025 SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital.
As a key component of the 2025 SCO Summer series, the SCO Week of this year's Qingdao International Beer Festival will take place from July 25 to 31 at the Qingdao International Beer City. The event will feature international cultural performances, specialty product showcases, and interactive experiences of intangible cultural heritage. Leveraging the festival's massive foot traffic—reaching into the millions—it aims to build a market-driven platform that fuses festival appeal with distinctive SCO elements.
"The festival will be showcasing a curated selection of signature SCO-region beverages, including Russian beer, Azerbaijani pomegranate wine, and Armenian apricot wine. Popular SCO food and beverage items such as Russian ice cream, Azerbaijani pomegranate juice, and Turkish coffee will also be featured," said the Director of the Third Industry Development Division of the SCODA Sun Jing. Tourists can enjoy traditional performances—folk dances, live music, and instrumental showcases—representing various SCO member states during the events that aim to immerse domestic and international tourists in the spirit of the SCO that would transform the consumer experience into a deeper cultural encounter along the shores of the Yellow Sea.
The 35th Qingdao International Beer Festival, themed "Qingdao Cheers With the World," will run from July 18 to August 16. To amplify the global influence of Qingdao's beer culture, this year's festival will feature not only the themed SCO Week, but also a series of international exchange initiatives—including the "Vibrant Culture & Tourism, Shared by Sister Cities" Friendship Cities Exchange Month, the International Beer Festival Alliance Conference, and a special program welcoming 10,000 South Korean tourists to the festival. These efforts aim to position Qingdao International Beer Festival as a truly global celebration of beer.
