Southport’s premier drinks festival ready for autumn return
HERE’S a date for your diaries: after a rest of a couple of years, Southport’s premier drinks festival will be returning to the resort this autumn, writes Neville Grundy.
The Southport and West Lancs Branch of Camra is currently in the process of arranging its 17th beer and cider festival, which is due to take place in October.
The festival will be offering more than 60 real ales and real ciders, as well as real perry, wine and Prosecco.
Perry is a drink made in a similar manner to cider but using pears instead of apples, and it tends to have a more mellow flavour.
It is not to be confused with “pear cider”, which is a non-real cider with pear flavouring.
The festival will run from Thursday, October 25 to Saturday, October 27, opening at 6pm on Thursday, noon on Friday and Saturday, and closing at 11pm on all three days. On Thursday, the branch will be presenting its prestigious pub and licensee awards to licensees and bar staff who have been voted among the best in the area by local members of the campaign.
There will be live entertainment in the evenings on Friday and Saturday.
The venue is as before: St John Ambulance Hall, Wright Street, Southport, just around the corner from the railway station and a few minutes’ walk from the main bus routes on Lord Street. The venue is accessible. Admission costs £4 for each day session, but is free for card-carrying Camra members.
The festival was originally held in the old Southport Arts Centre for several years, until it was closed for refurbishment, at which point the Scarisbrick Hotel kindly offered to host it.
When the hotel was taken over by a national chain, Camra relocated the festival to the present venue.
For more information, or to buy tickets online when available, go to our website at www.southport.camra.org. uk.
If you can’t wait until October, St Gregory’s RC Church, Weldbank Lane, Chorley PR7 3NW is holding its inaugural beer festival on July 13 and 14, offering 16 beers and 14 ciders.
Tickets are £4, available online from www.eventbrite.co.uk, or on the door.
More information from: www. stgregoryschorley.org.uk/events.
Southport and West Lancs Camra website: www.southport.camra.org. uk.
For previous Camra articles, go to: tinyurl.com/vis-pubs.