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London Drinker Beer Festival March 2001
This is just to say 'thank you' to all the CAMRA members who turned up to work at the London Drinker Beer Festival. Without the help from all of you the festival could not be as successful as it is, and special thanks are due to members from other branches from all over the country who gave up their time to come to London for the festival. On another matter, we received a complaint that a particular beer was not available for a member on the day that the member turned up. It was explained that the beer was not in a satisfactory condition to sell and like other festivals we try to avoid selling beer that is not ready to drink. We also had a complaint that we had live music at the festival. This was advertised and we did not have music on the other two nights that the festival was open. Again thank you to everyone who came to the festival either to drink or to work. Or both.
Ian Hasell, for the festival committee.
Having just finished this year's festival (and again it was a success), many people ask what goes into making the festival a success?
Well it all started a year ago during the last festival when amongst the comments of ' I do not think I could go through that again' and 'I'm to tired to think of next year', we booked the venue again for 2001, thus setting the date for this year's festival. So over the last year a small band of committed North London CAMRA members started planning the new festival, holding several meetings during the year. For some obscure reason 'Pirates' was chosen as the festival theme. This also set the theme for the beer order. Many other matters also needed attending to, such as food, foreign beer, cider, stalls, etc. One major problem was with transport. In previous years one person had dealt with this but it was felt to be too much a burden and was resolved by sharing out responsibility.
So the Monday of the festival week finally arrived. Would the efforts to encourage more members to come along to help set up prove fruitful, or would a small handful have to persevere by themselves? Fortunately, this concern was unnecessary - sufficient people turned up and the set up over the first two days went smoothly.
Wednesday the festival opened and that morning I was supposed to be picked up and taken into the studios of Virgin Radio to do an interview with Chris Evans to publicise the festival, however the car did not turn up but the interview was rescheduled for Thursday morning and went very well.
During the first three minutes of opening the festival more than sixty people came through the doors and hopefully enjoyed themselves. Over the three days we were open about four thousand people came to the festival, thankfully not all at once. The kitchen team were busy turning out quality meals, many of which received high praise from both customers and staff. The bar staff on both the main bars and foreign bar were rushed off their feet serving thousands of pints to thirsty drinkers. Eager buyers snapped up books, t-shirts and ties. Of course when you first arrived at the festival you were greeted by our friendly front of house staff and sold a souvenir glass. So Friday night it all finished? No not quite, as it all has to be packed up ready for next year. So Saturday we all turned up bright and early to return casks to wholesalers and breweries and all the other paraphernalia to whence it came. By lunch time all is set for the staff party, which some would argue is the best time of the week, when we can all sit down together to eat, drink and chat about the previous week.
I would like to reiterate our thanks to everyone that worked at the festival and of course came along for a beer or two. The festival is entirely staffed by volunteers, any profits are used to campaign for real ale and also help sometimes to fund the Full Pint.
Oh yes, we have already booked the venue for next year's festival!!
Ian Hasell
More than 1,500 meals were served, ranging from a sausage on its own to a luxurious bouillabaisse. Vegetarian meals proved exceptionally popular, even outselling the main meat dish on two days. Disaster almost struck on the first day when the vegetable delivery failed to arrive until an hour before opening. Manager Peter Beasley, obligatory glass of water in hand (Ok, right… Ed) observed "The kitchen became a blur of activity with frenzied chopping, boiling and frying. All credit to the kitchen staff that we managed to open with the full menu". A colourful dining area with tablecloths, flowers and menus was appreciated by customers.
Peter Beasley, Festival Catering Manager
Reproduced from the Full Pint, Issue 9.
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