Beer festival draws in crowds and raises cash for community

Last weekend’s event, which was declared a fantastic success, has raised £15,000 to date.

Spofforth Village Society spokesman Rhona Langan said: “We had a fantastic crowd on both days (Friday and Saturday) and the event was a sell-out.

“The money contributes to all the other Spofforth Village organisations: Spofforth in Bloom, Monday Monkeys, the Church, the Cricket Club, the Snooker Club, Senior Coffee club and the School.”

And she added: “We will be using some of the money raised to provide a spectacular village celebration in honour of the Queen’s 90th Birthday in June this year.

“Our aim is always to find different ways to bring the local community together to enjoy different social activities and build friendships and a sense of belonging.”

Entertainment at last weekend’s Beer Festival included live music from The Raisers and Lemmie and Paddy Killin and the Bad Daddies who rocked the main hall to the rafters on the Saturday with highlights being Sit Down and Amarillo.

Rhona added that the first beers to sell out were Daleside Blonde, Elderflower Blonde (from Saltaire Brewery) and Daleside Square Rigger.

“All 18 of our barrels were dry by 9.30pm on the Saturday,” said Rhona.

“Our new Prosecco Lounge was a huge hit.

“We had sold Prosecco last year from the main bar and had decided to develop this aspect of the Festival.

“For the first time this year we decorated the Snooker Room with garlands of trailing ivy and white roses, sparkling fairylights and crisp white table linen.

“The result was a glamorous bohemian oasis, offering ice-cold Prosecco and wines and a chance to chill-out away from the packed main hall.

“The Prosecco Lounge was a great success (94 bottles of Prosecco sold) and people really appreciated the chance to sit down and have a relaxed catch-up.

“There were also quite a few enquiries from people interested in joining the Snooker Club, so that was an added bonus.”

Rhona added: “The weather was also fantastic: clear, dry and bright and lots of people enjoyed their drinks and food outside the Hall, watching the world go by.”

“Spofforth Village Society would like to say a massive thank you to Daleside Brewery, to our sponsors, to the incredible musicians who gave such great performances, to Spofforth WI for all the delicious baps, to all the tireless and enthusiastic volunteers who helped pre, post and during the Festival, and to everyone who attended our event and helped to make it such a great community party.”