THIRSTY punters dreaming of a summer of beer have been snapping up tickets for one of the first beer festivals to be announced for 2021.
Volunteer-run Twyford Beer Festival will take place on Friday, June 25 and Saturday, June 26, raising funds for male cancer charity Orchid.
The Twyford Beer Festival will be held in its regular venue of Stanlake Meadow Recreation Ground, but due to coronavirus, it will be a ticket only event.
The £10 entry fee includes two vouchers which can be swapped for two half pints.
This will be the 11th festival, and will include live music, food and a range of real ales, ciders, spirits and entertainment. Organisers are hoping to have 75 different beers to choose from, coming from a range of independent and local breweries.
In previous years, this has included Loddon Brewery, Bingham’s and Stardust.
Tickets went on sale last week, and by Monday, more than 1,000 had been sold. Only 4,000 are available in order to ensure the event remains covid-safe.
The last event raised £10,000 for Orchid, and organiser Ian Wisdom is hoping customers will be generous again this year.
Ian Wisdom, who organisers the event, is delighted with the response so far.
“At the rate the tickets are going, we should sell out before the festival,” he said. “The early bird tickets for Saturday sold out in just 12 hours.
“If we can sell out for both days, then we will be in a position to send a really big sum to Orchid. They are planning to come this year so visitors can learn more about their work.”
The event is more than just beer. There will also be live music, something that many have missed during lockdown.
“We’ve got bands booked, and there will be a second tent for an acoustic stage this year.”
He also promised a good mixture of food vendors and to ensure the festival meets all the covid requirements necessary. Measures include a contact-free beer ticket system and restricting numbers to the whole festival to just 4,000. Customers can bring their own drinking vessels, or use eco-friendly corn starch disposable glasses. Drinks will be decanted into these minimising the risk of contact between customer and server.
Mr Wisdom has also carried out extensive health and safety planning for other aspects of the event to keep it safe.
“We will hopefully be in a good place come June with vaccine take-up rate and the downturn in infections, I am confident we will have a very covid-safe festival.”
Tickets are available by logging on to twyfordbeerfest.co.uk
