Beer Festivals - What Are They Actually For?

I had a cracking night out on Friday. Just 200 yards from my front door was the second Rothwell beer festival. I met up with a mate and we hit the bar, along with about 500 other people - not a bad feat for a hall with a capacity of about half that. The thing that made this festival so special was that we were allowed back out of the hall, into the churchyard in front of the church you see pictured. It was a warm evening, and the combination of great beers, an enthusiastic and genuinely mixed crowd, and a 'first day of summer' feeling made it quite an event. Indeed, so caught up in the revelry was everyone that they pretty much did for all of the beer on the first night - by the time I went back at 7pm on the second evening, there were only 5 beers left on.

I've gone on record as being a bit of a miserablist about beer festivals - they're generally not conducive to sitting around and chatting, they're usually held in slightly naff municipal settings, and they tend to live up to all the clichés about real ale that you expect to find. I won't rehash those here, but I will say that I was delighted by the really broad mix of people at the Rothwell beer fest - maybe it's because it's a more suburban effort, but it really did draw everything from hip young things to grizzled old soaks. I'd like to think of myself as somewhere between the two, but judging from the amount of 'hey beardy' stick I got, I fear I'm nearer the far end of the spectrum.

But as well as drinking some great beers (highlights included Five Towns Peculiar Blue, and Elland Eden), it got me thinking - what are beer festivals actually for? Are they just a big, hit-and-miss sort of a party, where you turn up and make your own fun? Are they a bit like a pub that you only visit once? Are they more about the beer than the festival, or is it all about "the craic"? I like to use the odd solitary session at beerfests purely to try as many different thirds as I can, as I find that gives a really clear idea of who's failing, who's hitting the mark, and who's trying too hard. Well, until about the 12th third, when it all becomes a bit academic, and I settle on a final pint of something a bit pokey that I'll come to regret on the bus journey home.

So then: Beer Festivals - How Do You Like Yours?

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Community Beer Festivals

- in which we move from a discussion of the specific, to the generic, and muse upon the phenomenon of community beer festivals.

A couple of events to plug, which may be of interest if you happen to be local to Leeds. This weekend, there is a beer festival in Rothwell. It's for charity, which is why it's a fiver to get in, but for me the reason that this is a big deal is that it is about 200 yards from my front door, and obviously I'd be a fool not to go. The beer list looks OK too. I'm particularly looking forward to trying some beer from the Five Towns brewery, run on a part-time basis by a nursing assistant, and Mallinsons, whose beers I've tried in bottle but not from cask. That's a couple of pints right there.

Also this weekend is the inaugural LS6 Beer Festival. Leeds 6 (the postcode) has long been a hotbed of creative hipster activity, having a great concentration of students, musicians, and generally bohemian types. The line up of beers is pretty great, and they have a load of bands on too. It's got all the makings of a great day out.

What I find really heartening is that both of these events are charity fundraisers. The church hall in Rothwell has never hosted a beer festival before, but it's been selected as an event that will make people turn up and donate to a good cause. Perhaps in days gone buy, the event would be a fete, with a jumble sale, tombola, and WI stall. But this week it's beer. And the usual mode of fundraising in LS6 is a music all-dayer at the Brudenell Social Club. To see real ale at the heart of this event is great news.

So, in Leeds this weekend, the suburbs and the inner city will be hosting inaugural beer festivals. Is interest in real ale starting to become as widespread as these festivals might suggest?