Sandgrounder Beer Festival 2011

Next weekend, Southport plays host to the 12th Sandgrounder Beer Festival.  It opens at 6pm on Thursday 22 September and at midday on Friday and Saturday; it closes at 11pm on all three days.  Entry is free to CAMRA members (£1 on Friday after 6pm), and £3 to non-members (£4 on Friday after 6pm).  The extra pound on Friday evening is for the local band Gallimaufry who went down rather well last year.  They play a wide range of music from folk to the Beatles, and are not deafening.

I have decided not to do my usual Saturday afternoon slot after complaints from one or two individuals yet again that my solo voice and acoustic guitar were too loud!  The festival is in two rooms, so if you don't feel like listening to the music, you can go into the other room; the bars are in the room without the music.  There will be more than 60 beers, ciders, perries and fruit wines.

The festival is upstairs in the Scarisbrick Hotel, 239 Lord Street, Southport, PR8 1NZ, about 5 minutes walk from the railway station.  Click here for more details and a map.

Just in case you're wondering, a Sandgrounder is a person who was born in Southport.  As I was born in a certain city 20 miles to the south, I don't qualify.