Real Ale Festival

2009 Real Ale Festival Review

2009 saw a repeat of the 2008 popularity especially on the Friday night session which again attracted a capacity crowd despite the cloudy and unsettled weather. The new Friday afternoon preview session also was attended by a capacity crowd who enjoyed the benefits of a relaxed and uncrowded environment. Additional deliveries were called in again this year as the sheer number of patrons and the amount of Ale and Cider consumed meant we had to bolster supplies.

Ciders again proved popular as the ever growing interest for these drinks continues. Although we had substantially increased the number of cider barrels this year, we unfortunately couldn't quite keep up with demand.

All in all a good time was had by all and the settings of our 1860's station certainly adds to the atmosphere of the event.

2010 'November Fest' Ale Festival

After the success of the summer Beer Festival, which proved too popular on one of the sessions; we have decided to add another event into our busy calendar.

We have devised to run this second Festival in the depths of November as a pre Christmas event.

Although this is a chilly time of year we are planning for this event to be situated in heated Marquees which will be decorated with a festive feel. The Festival will open on Friday 12th November from 6pm till 10.30pm, which will then lead into the Saturday sessions which will be open on the afternoon from 12pm till 5pm. The final session will start at 6pm on the Saturday night and finish at 10.30pm.

Entry into each of the sessions which are by ticket only and these will be available in advance from either the station café or booking office at a cost of £2.00 per person. These tickets will be available until they are sold out and are available to over 18’s.

At this Winter Festival we plan to offer a range of seasonal ales that you cannot see at any other time of the year. The Festival will be run in partnership with the ‘Gloucestershire Craft Brewers’ guild. Each of these 8 local brewers will be submitting seasonal winter ales.

We will have a number of specially made Christmas Ciders available for this event.

Foods will be available from our Station Buffet, which will be open from 10am till 9pm on both days of the Festival. They will have their normal range of items as well as Hot Beef, Pork and Chicken sandwiches carved straight off the joint. More information (pdf, 1.1Mb)

We will be running a strict over 18's policy for the evening sessions and although we hope you enjoy you drinks, we encourage you to drink responsibly. For more details please visit www.drinkaware.co.uk.

Real Ale Festival Dates

TICKETS FOR THE FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND FRIDAY EVENING SESSIONS OF OUR POPULAR BEER FESTIVAL ARE NOW SOLD OUT.

TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE FOR THE SATURDAY EVENING SESSION (6PM-10PM) WHILST SATURDAY AFTERNOON (12PM-5PM) IS AN OPEN SESSION AND DOES NOT REQUIRE TICKETS

• Friday 12th November 2010 Evening Session 6pm-10.30pm (Spaces Available)
• Saturday 13th November 2010 Afternoon Session 12pm-5pm (Spaces Available)
• Saturday 13th November Evening Session 6pm-10.30pm (Spaces Available)

(All Times TBC)

C.A.M.R.A

If you are a fan of Real Ale, you can join your local Campaign for Real Ale group. Information available from the CAMRA website.

last updated: david cole, Wed 19th May 2010