Beer festival
CAMBRIDGE Walks had its biggest Southport Beer Street yet with thousands of people turning out to sample the extensive range of real ale and craft beers.
The Beer Street Festival ran from July 19 to July 21 and had more than 80 beers on offer from 50 local, national and international breweries.
The sour, flavoured beers, such as raspberry and lingonberry, proved most popular, selling out within an hour.
None of the real ale went to waste as all of it was used by the end of the festival but, luckily, didn’t sell out too early.
The two lines dedicated to draught gin and tonic from Fierce Beer Co also proved really popular. So much so it may be a must again for next year.
The event was organised by Julian Burgess and Luke Randles from craft beer bar Tap & Bottles in the arcade.
Luke Randles said: “We’re really pleased with how it’s gone this year. It was a great atmosphere and was a lot busier than last year.
“We had people flying over from Germany, Denmark and Sweden just to come to this, so we were made up.
“More people came down from Liverpool this year, which is what we wanted.
“There was no trouble whatsoever with anyone too tipsy, it was just a really good atmosphere the whole time.”
This year, Southport Beer Street hosted the Mikkeler Running Club on Sunday which started at noon and got people into the festival for free. About 25 people joined, some of whom were already in running groups that had come to join.
Sunday also featured live music from the Ametrines and Grateful Fred’s Ukelele Troupe.
Luke said: “Sunday was a really relaxed, chilled day with people enjoying the live music.
“We take a £2 deposit for glasses and had really nice ones this year and visitors seemed to agree as only a handful of them came back!”
The festival has grown in popularity every year showcasing more breweries, more beers and adding different elements.
The idea behind Southport Beer Street was to create a more modern kind of beer festival that appealed to well-travelled beer lovers and welcomed curious drinkers who may have previously been intimidated by the idea of craft beer festivals.
The idea is certainly proving to be a success.
Luke said: “We’re really happy so many people came. So much so that if it’s any busier next year we’d have to think about expanding.”
To find out more about Beer Street, visit tapandbottles.com/ beerstreet or visit the Facebook page @tapandbottles.