Here’s a weekend to keep free: East Lancs CAMRA will again be holding a beer festival at the St Mary’s Centre in Clitheroe on May 14th and 15th 2010.
Men undertaking the noble pursuit of standing around getting pissed on a Saturday afternoon.
Last year it coincided with a 1940s theme weekend but I haven’t seen any mention of that yet so perhaps that was a one-off. Either way it’s still a decent festival for the weekend as Clitheroe’s a nice town and it’s easy to reach from anywhere on the Manchester line – you could even change at Blackburn and reach it from Preston, Burnley and beyond.
The St Mary’s Centre is quite small but sometimes that adds to a festival. The dull roar of 300 drunk men in an old building with terrible acoustics is second only to standing in a busy Wetherspoons at 9pm on a Saturday night and feeling drowned out by mindless noise. You can rest assured though that the Clitheroe festival is on a much more intimate scale.
While in the town I would also recommend a visit to the New Inn, which normally has around six beers on and is a fantastic old pub. In summer, wind through the low-beamed rooms out into the beer garden with a great view over the town – one of my all time top five beer gardens without a doubt. The Grand is also worth a look if open – the bar had a good choice of bottled beers on last time I went.
I’ll update here if I hear any more news but I do recommend this as one for a good Saturday out, especially if the weather is pleasant.
Beer festival · Beers · CAMRA · Clitheroe · New Inn · St Mary's Centre · The Grand
Gavin · March 14, 2010 at 8:56pm
Could you please let me know when you know if the beer weekend will coincide with the 1940s weekend in may thanks for your help
Author comment by Richard Carr · March 18, 2010 at 12:20pm
Hi Gavin – to the best of my knowledge there’s nothing similar planned this year, and with it being only two months off I’d have thought it’d be well into the planning stages by now if it were going ahead. I’ve emailed the East Lancs CAMRA secretary though to see if he knows anything, as they’re organising the beer fest.
A preview of the Preston beer festival at St Walburge's | BadPoo · March 18, 2010 at 12:50pm
[...] at home drinking bottles on your own and cramming yourself into a Wetherspoons on a Friday night. Clitheroe’s festival in May should be very much the same if last year is anything to go [...]