About

About the Festival

This is a very relaxed festival, following in the traditions of a typical beer festival, but with a fantastic jazz line-up to accompany the liquid refreshment!

The Festival stage will welcome an eclectic mix of artists from 12.30pm-10.00pm, with doors and bars opening at 12pm, and last orders at 10.30pm (drinking up by 11.00pm) so why not make a day of it! The music will flow all day, with 3 main acts performing each day. There is plenty of room to laze on the lawns, or take a seat in the Soul Foods Garden and let the music waft over you. We don't just cater for the real ale lovers, but also for other palettes with Pimms, cocktails, wine and soft drinks available.

You purchase a festival glass on entry (£3) which is refundable on exit if you don't want to keep it as a souvenir. The choice is yours! You'll be given a Festival Drinks Guide on entry so you can plan your drinks to match your mood or the music.

Feel free to ask for a beer taster to try before you buy.

Please note that as this is an alcohol based event it is not promoted as a family event. Accompanied children are welcome to attend at their parent/guardian's discretion, and under 5’s enter free of charge. Children over 5 years will need a full price ticket to enter the event.

The Festival takes place outdoors, but bar areas are under cover. The festival will go ahead in wet weather so please come prepared.

Do support the cause and think about joining the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). Visit the website for more details or pick up a leaflet at the festival.

Festival Rules

It is a relaxed Festival, but as with all licensed events, there are some basic rules we need you to follow. By purchasing a ticket for the festival you are agreeing to follow these rules:

• Persons under 18 are only permitted entry into the Festival before 5pm.
• Persons under 18 must be accompanied by an adult ticket-holder at all times whilst at the festival.
• No persons under 18 are permitted entry to the event after 5pm.
• Persons under 18 are not permitted to be served or to consume alcohol at the Festival.
• The Challenge 25 strategy will be in operation at all festival bars. Anyone who is over 18 but looks under 25 will be asked to show acceptable ID (a card bearing the PASS hologram, a photographic driving license or a passport) if they wish to buy alcohol.
• All bars and marquees are non-smoking areas. Smoking is permitted outside these areas, but please be considerate of those around you.
• No food or alcohol is permitted to be brought into the Festival.
• No dogs are permitted at the Festival, with the exception of Guide and Hearing dogs.

What is Real Ale?

Real ale is a type of beer produced traditionally and its also known as cask conditioned beer.

The main difference between real ale and other beer is that is has not been filtered or pasteurised and so the yeast is still present in the contained from which the beer is served.

Because the yeast is still alive, the process of fermentation continues in the cask leading to a full flavoured beer with a natural sparkle.

By the time the beer is served, the yeast will have settled to the bottom of the cask and it is not poured into your glass.

Real ale should be clear (with the exception of some wheat beers), cool and full of flavour and life. The percentage of alcohol in each beer and cider is indicated by the ABV. A typical ordinary strength bitter might be around 3.8% so take so take care when sampling the stronger brews.

Soul Foods Area

SEACOW

The Seacow began as a humble fish shack in East Dulwich back in 2003. Brothers Paul and Dan Rigby then went on to tell the Seacow story to the masses at music festivals up and down the land. For the past few years they have taken their brightly coloured beach hut trailers to Bestival, The Big Chill, Green Man and Glastonbury to name but a few. The menu is a simple, stripped back offering of great quality fresh fish and chips, tempura prawns and their famous minted mushy peas. Naturally they know a thing or two about how to be environmentally savvy and all of the cooking oil is recycled into biodiesel to power their vehicles. Its fish and chips you truly feel good about eating.

PURE PIES

We serve our delicious handmade pies to delighted customers all over the country. Our passion for all things Pie drives us on to make better and better pies, each one a modern expression of an age old art form.

The great outdoors is where we started. We sold our first pie at The Strawberry Fair in Cambridge in 2002 and have been on the road ever since. We love festivals almost as much as we love pies and frankly thats saying something.

Location