There will also be an even wider range of traditional Ciders
& Perrys; drinks which seem increasingly popular. Soft drinks and food will
be available at all sessions, with a popular barbecue area as usual.
Apart from my own CAMRA branch festival, which doesn’t take
place until October, the SIBA/Juddians event will probably be the only beer
festival I will attend this year; certainly in this country. I have written
before about “Festival Fatigue,” so I don’t intend why I have gone off beer
festivals, but I always make an exception for the SIBA event.
For me, the best aspect of the festival has always been its
family nature, with the large marquee,
where the beers are kept and served from, opening out onto part of the playing
area, giving plenty of room for people to sit out and soak up the sun, along with
the beer. To me there’s nothing finer than sitting out in the fresh air, whilst
enjoying a few beers in the presence of friends or family
The other big plus about the event is I can walk there, and
can take the family along as well. The local nature of the festival also means I
am bound to meet up with quite a few other people I know, and it’s always good
to catch up with them.
TJ’s Rugby Club is located in the centre of Tonbridge, close to the town's 12th Century castle, just
off the High Street and is a 10-15 minute walk from the railway station. The
Festival is held in a spacious marquee on the rugby club pitches, with all of
the clubhouse facilities available to festival goers. Opening times are as
follows:
Friday 5th July 17:00
to 23:00. Saturday 6th
July 12:00 to 23:00
As usual, entry is FREE with all beers purchased using tokens
(1/2 pint tokens at £1.80 each). All beers & ciders are sold at the one
price of £3.60 per pint, which keeps things a lot easier for the bar-staff. I
wish my own branch would follow suit with at their joint festival with the Spa
Valley Railway!
There will be live music on
the Saturday, when the “Music Lounge” will be filled with the sounds of
the Acoustic Reverb Collection, aimed at introducing some of the finest, local
young musicians to a wider audience.
All 180 + cask ales are entries in the SIBA South East Region Competition.
The tasting and judging of these beers takes place during the day, on Friday,
and I know several people who volunteer as judges each year.
This is a little too serious for me, as I prefer to drink
and enjoy my beer, rather than analyse it, but it is obviously good for the
brewing industry and for SIBA, that these types of competition take
place. Once the judging has finished and the winners announced, the festival is
turned over to the rugby club, and the paying public are admitted.
The SIBA Beer Festival has now become firmly fixed in the
Tonbridge social calendar, and is well-supported by the townsfolk and people
from further afield. If time permits, I will produce a brief synopsis of the event,
after it has happened.
5 comments:
Thanks for this Paul. Not over-keen on beer festivals but made a trip to Tonbridge for the SIBA fest yesterday as a result of reading your post.
One of the best festivals we've ever attended. Packed, terrific atmosphere, full of mixed family groups and absolutely superb range of quality beers.
CAMRA fests - this is how it can and should be done.
Pleased to read that you found my write up useful RC, and that you enjoyed the SIBA beer festival. Providing the weather’s fine, it really is one of the best.
My son and I popped along on Friday evening, and then returned the following day, complete with Mrs PBT’s, her niece, niece’s partner, plus assorted friends. Sat outside soaking up the sun and enjoying the beer. Great atmosphere and fine setting. Were you there when the Spitfire was doing its flypasts? It came over really low on the final one.
I’ve been saying for some time that CAMRA could learn a things or two from other festivals; particularly having all beers priced the same, regardless of strength. The Spa Valley Railway Beer Fest, which is a joint effort between my local CAMRA branch and the heritage railway volunteers, has a fiendishly complicated pricing structure based on ABV, distance travelled and wholesale cost.
This means five different denominations of tokens, confusion for bar staff and punters alike, plus the need to have “change,” in the form of lower value tokens, behind the bars at all times. Talk about creating unnecessary work!
Indeed, the Spitfire was the icing on the cake. Husband was ecstatic...
We've been going to CAMRA fests for years but have become increasingly disillusioned both with them and the direction in which the organisation itself is going. Finally let our membership lapse in 2017.
Saturday reminded us just what fun a great festival can be. Very friendly lot in Tonbridge. Not terribly well advertised though as far as I could see- doubt we'd have known about it without your local knowledge. So thanks again.
Hi Rhubarb Crumble. Yes, the festival wasn't that well advertised, this year. I'm not sure why, as in previous years there have been posters, signs and banners both in Tonbridge, and on the approaches to the town.
I have to agree about CAMRA, and have been debating for several years now whether to remain a member. The organisation has definitely lost its way, but on a personal level it will be hard to say goodbye after 44 years continuous membership.
I saw signs around Tonbridge advertising the beer festival and it is in the CAMRA Draught Copy magazine. Looking at TJs website it is on there and their social media, but you have to know to look or follow it. I guess the question for such events is how to get the message across to those who are not aware of it or to those outside the immediate area?
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