STOKE BEER FESTIVAL 1999
A review of the 19th Annual Festival
The 1999 Stoke (Potteries Branch) Beer Festival was a bit like "the curate's egg" -good in parts, writes Gene Bailey.
By opening an extra session on Tuesday evening, it was hoped that overall attendance would be up on last year. Unfortunately, Tuesdays (and Wednesdays for that matter) are not traditional drinking-out nights, so attendances on these nights were lower than expected, and it wasn't until Thursday that things started to pick up.
And how they picked-up!! Thursday was good, but Friday was bumper, with over 1400 people attending in the evening. As usual Saturday was not as busy as Friday, but there were still more people in the hall in the evening than the fire limit at the King's Hall would have allowed.
The beer quality was certainly better than last year. The air-conditioning units and bubble-wrap tents definately did their job, bringing the beer below 60F
when the outside temperature was +80F. There was also plenty of choice - not just traditional British beers, but also the usual Belgian and German offerings were available again. Some thought the range a little conservative and pricey, but the main thing was quality, and that was good.The layout of the Students' Union hall was changed to allow beer lovers greater space and room to wander about. Unfortunately, some customers did not realise that there were seven separate bars:
four British beer bars, plus the German, Belgian and Cider bars, dotted about the hall. The bar facing the stage did a roaring trade, whilst the others were often quite slack.
It took a while for the food hall to be discovered. The excellent value meals were of a better quality than anything ever offered at a Stoke beer festival before. It just took a while for people to find the refectory.
The entertainment was poorly advertised (my fault I'm afraid), but that probably had little bearing on the festival as a whole.
Overall, the festival was harder work than usual to put on, and a bit less rewarding as well. Being double booked with two weddings in the hall on the setting-up Sunday and on the taking-down Sunday didn't help, although I've never seen a festival hall cleared as quickly before!
And so next year. Things will be different, I promise. Did I hear you say 'Oompah Band"? Why not, if that's what you want! There will be new beer orderers - to bring in fresh ideas (and silly names). Better publicity, and more signs and announcements to tell you where to go (politely). If you have any ideas or innovations to make next year's festival better, please feel free to telephone or use the e-mail address on the index pages..
See you there next year!
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