The sun came out in time for a warm welcome to first arrivals at Gateshead Beer & Music Festival on Friday afternoon where a competition was already heating up inside the clubhouse.
The popular community festival is making a return to pre-pandemic form this weekend for the first time since 2019 and, with bars fully stocked and the music stage prepped, the beer was flowing even before the official launch at 2pm. Judging was under way in a regional competition and there were plenty brews to sample.
SIBA - the Society of Independent Brewers - had again picked Gateshead Rugby Football Club's festival to host its beer competition and Friday's winner - selected from entries across the North East and Yorkshire - will go on to the national finals.
Read more: guide to distilleries across the North East
The festival has around 125 real ales on offer plus craft lager, cider, spirits and wine at pop-up bars in the giant marquee in the club's Low Fell grounds where early arrivals were soon mingling and making the most of the good weather.
A Mad Martini cocktail stand, run by Justin Loblack, is a new addition this year, as is a wood-fired pizza oven - which complements a food menu including hot dogs and kebabs - and a big outdoor screen which will be showing Saturday's match. The first music of the day was being provided by Low Fell Ukes in the clubhouse while the main stage inside the marquee was gearing up for its packed three-day music programme, to include Queen tribute band We Are Champion as Friday's headliners.
As extra kegs of beer were being rolled into place and delivery was taken of a late-arriving stock of non-alcoholic prosecco - there are non-gluten drinks and vegetarian food offerings too - Chris Telfer, chairman of the beer festival committee, was delighted to see this year's event back to normal.
Following its cancellation in 2020, a reduced-capacity festival - in line with Covid restrictions at the time - took place last year, later than normal in August. Now back in its traditional May Bank Holiday slot, the event - the club's vital money-spinner of the year - is proving the usual hit.
The festival is a true community affair - it's also run and staffed by volunteers, club members and friends - and while there are still some tickets available for Friday and Sunday sessions, Saturday's is already a sellout. The annual event takes months of planning: as soon as it's under way, preparations start on the next, said Chris.
"I can't overstate how important this is for us as a community-run enterprise," he said. "Without that valuable income, members almost remain stagnant; we can't develop further." The festival costs tens of thousands of pounds to host and, being not-for-profit, the money it makes goes on the club's development and work which includes promoting a women's rugby team.
Following Friday's beer competition, North East SIBA director Mark Anderson, of Houghton-le-Spring's Maxim Brewery, said the winner will take part in the national finals at a BeerX event early next year. No doubt festival supplies of the overall winning brew will soon run low but there will be plenty of its close rivals to try too.
In the run-up to the opening day, Paddy Douglas, chairman of Gateshead Rugby Football Club, told how the festival has grown from its 2010 debut into "one of the biggest events in the North East" with a great party atmosphere.
"As usual we could not hold our festival without the fantastic team of volunteers who work tirelessly over the weekend," he said, adding that they are all glad to see it back at its normal dates. As well as a club running teams for all ages, he called the venue "a social and sports club at the centre of the community" and it also will be hosting a charity stand on each day of the festival: the Women’s Cancer Detection Society on Friday; West End Food Bank on Saturday and ImmunodeficencyUk on Sunday.
The club's next event will be Gateshead Summer Fest on the August 27-28 Bank Holiday weekend. For more about the beer festival, its full music programme and remaining tickets see here.
