There was no Festival in 2020, due to the COVID pandemic – all pubs were closed throughout October, and many remained closed until April or May of 2021.
When the Festival was first realised to be at risk, in March and April, the Branch decided to run a pub-based festival, along the lines of the City of Ale, with pub trails with prizes, over the week the beer festival would have taken place. Provisionally named Norwich Beer Festival Goes to the Pub, the event finally happened as the Norwich and Beyond Pub Festival, designed to support pubs after they reopened, and lasting the month of July 2021. The event was very successful, and was repeated in 2022.