Cheers to the festivals and the help they bring – may they soon return
IN SEPTEMBER 1975 Camra held its first large beer festival in London’s Covent Garden, writes Neville Grundy.
It was a four-day event at which 40,000 happy customers drank 150,000 pints of real ale.
Since then, beer festivals have become incredibly popular, and Camra’s national bash, the Great British Beer Festival, is often described as “the world’s biggest pub”.
While the campaign now runs about 200 festivals around the country, today many others are organised by pubs, clubs, charities, breweries and other bodies.
The first non-Camra beer festival in my experience was organised in the late 1980s by Dave Dobson, licensee of the Bold Arms in Churchtown.
Initially he drew from the range of beers brewed by Allied Breweries, which owned the pub, but a breakthrough came when he obtained permission to break the tie and stock beers from rival breweries.
A beer festival in a pub was so unusual in those days that there were drinkers who travelled from Liverpool for the occasion.
Northumbria University has conducted research to measure the economic impact of local beer festivals and it has found that, while the effect such events can have on tourism and the local economy is significant, it is usually underestimated.
Tom Stainer, Camra’s chief executive, commented: “The research from Northumbria University demonstrates what a positive impact beer festivals have on the local economy.
“Just one beer festival can inject substantial cash into the local economy, both directly and indirectly, with little or no cost to the local council.
“In particular, festivals help boost income for local hospitality and tourism businesses.
“Given that Camra runs over 200 beer festivals across the country, we can extrapolate these findings to suggest beer festivals contribute many millions into local economies, as well as providing a valuable route to market for numerous independent breweries.
“This is great news all round – for local councils, local pubs and consumer choice.
“We hope that recognition of the huge cultural and economic contribution festivals make will encourage the government to work quickly to develop guidance to allow them to reopen safely, as soon as possible, and in consultation with Camra and other organisations which organise them.
“When that happy day comes, we’d invite everyone to join us in raising a pint to Prof Cabras and his team.”