Anyone fancy a Wanstead Beer Festival?

Beer festivals have grown in popularity and number across the country over recent years. There was a two-year absence over the pandemic but the festivals came roaring back last year. Many are run by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). They offer a chance for people of all ages, shapes and sizes to come together, to enjoy a variety of beers. There is also often entertainment, with many bands taking part in the festivals. The biggest event held annually is the Great British Beer Festival, which draws thousands of people into Olympia over a five day period in August each year. Brewers from all over the country provide a broad range of beers, from heavy imperial stouts to the lighter blondes (closer to lager). There are also cider and perry bars, catering for other tastes. Wine and gin is also available. The serving of the different beers is a mass volunteer operation - often done by heroic Camra members. There are a variety of food outlets, providing anything from pasties and hot dogs to Indian Street food. A beer festival closer to home is the Epping & Ongar event in July. This has the added attraction of being held at the Epping Ongar Railway, so beers can be enjoyed whilst travelling on steam trains between Epping and Ongar. Every beer festival is different. Another July favourite is the Ealing Beer Festival, held in Walpole Park. A number of marquees are erected within the park. With the sun shining, it is a great place to have a beer. By contrast Norwich has an October beer festival in the historic St Andrews Halls in central Norwich. The old pictures of local notables look down from the walls on happy revellers. Another winter local festival is the Pigs Ear event held in the Round Chapel Hackney Chapel at the end of November. The Pigs Ear is organised by the East London Camra branch. It pretty much takes the whole year to organise but the result is an excellent occasion, with more than 3,000 attending over the five days last year. East London & City Camra branch, though, are old hands, the most recent event being its 38th. Another excellent event last year was the Wandsworth Common Halloween Beer & Cider Festival Festival, held at the historic Royal Victoria Patriotic Building. What Wandsworth showed though was how an event can be run in a relatively small space. It also had a personal favourite, the councillor beer (brewed especially for the event by the Sambrooks brewery). There is a Spring Wandsworth Beer Festival coming up at the end of next month – 31st March to 1st April. So, what about a Wanstead Beer Festival. There are a number of open spaces and large buildings that could host such an event. There are plenty of real ale fans in Wanstead, as witnessed by the variety of beers stocked in our local pubs. Our excellent transport links would make it easy for people coming in from outside to attend. Around the time of the Wanstead Fringe and Festival maybe? If there is sufficient interest then Wanstead can surely put itself on the Beer Festival map – over to you.