Real ale festival started quietly

Apr 5 2008 by Jule Wilson, The Journal

THIS week, real ale lovers from all over the country have been enjoying 120 ales from 69 regional breweries in the 32nd annual Newcastle Beer Festival.

The massive celebration of brewing sprang from humble beginnings, starting life in 1976 at the Quayside’s Guildhall.

Prior to that, beer enthusiasts were able to enjoy the Tyneside Beer Festival.

One of many events staged each year by the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), the inaugural 1976 festival even had to share the venue with a gathering by environmental group Friends of the Earth.

Strangely – or perhaps not – the event also coincided with the sighting of a large silver object over High Spen and Fenham which was later investigated by the British UFO Research Association.

These days, around 6,000 people sample the various ales, perries and ciders on offer over four days, demonstrating how much the event has grown since that first night.

At that first event, in the year that Harold Wilson resigned as Prime Minister and The Eagles topped the charts, only 12 beers were featured.

None were from the local area, but the success of the festival and similar events and campaigns has led to an explosion of local brewing in recent years.

And the festival remains dedicated to serving quality beer brewed from the best ingredients by traditional methods, and 20,000 pints are expected to have been downed by the time they call last orders today.

The North East region now has a strong tradition of real ale, with many nationally and internationally acclaimed breweries in and around the area.