Skipton Beer Festival 2009 Press Release
The third annual Skipton Beer Festival, which took place in the Town Hall last weekend, was the most successful so far with just over two thousand customers - a 35% increase on last year's attendance. They consumed approximately 7,600 pints of 70 different cask-conditioned ales as well as a smaller quantity of continental bottled beers, traditional ciders and perries and English fruit wines. Organisers Keighley & Craven CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) had to hastily arrange additional supplies of beer on the Friday evening, when it became clear that stock was running out more quickly than anticipated and the local Goose Eye and Naylors' breweries came up trumps with seven additional casks, which were settled and ready to serve by the Saturday afternoon. By closing time on Saturday only eight gallons of draught ale remained unsold, along with a few bottles of Belgian and German beer, and the remaining customers danced the evening away with the Bradford University Jazz Band.
The festival was officially opened on the Thursday evening by the Town Mayor, Councillor Carole Manley, and the collection of cash and unused beer tokens for the Mayor's charity - the Breast and Prostate Cancer units at Airedale Hospital - raised a total of £285. A happy party atmosphere prevailed throughout the festival and customer feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Chocolate Cherry Mild from the Dunham Massey Brewery near Altrincham in Cheshire was voted "Beer of the Festival". As the festival wound down on the Saturday evening customers began to hit the town and many local pubs, restaurants and takeaways reported a big increase in trade compared to a normal Saturday evening in April.
The organisers would like to thank the festival's sponsors: Copper Dragon Brewery, Market Town Taverns, Naylors' Brewery, the Narrow Boat, the Red Lion, the Dark Horse Brewery, the Swan at Addingham and the King's Arms at Silsden. We are also deeply indebted to Craven District Council, and Town Hall Manager Judith Riley and her staff, without whose assistance and co-operation the festival would not have been possible, and to the staff of Skipton Tourist Information Centre, whose excellent window display created a great deal of interest in the festival. Thanks are also due to all the local pubs and other businesses which either advertised in the programme or let us put up posters on their premises. Finally a big "thank you" to all the customers, who came from places as far afield as Norway, Chicago, Poland and the Isle of Wight, for supporting the festival. Who says that there is no demand for a good choice of quality real ales in Skipton?
What about next year? We shall have to see what, if anything, happens about the oft-postponed and much needed refurbishment of the Town Hall. Watch this space!
To see the event in pictures, click here.
Original details including provisional beer and cider lists..
