Scottish Real Ale Festival - Thoughts on Last Year's Festival

29 July 2010 19:07:26

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Welcome

Welcome to the website for the CAMRA Scottish Real Ale Festival

The 2010 Festival will be held at The Assembly Rooms, George Street, Edinburgh from the 24th-26th June.

Opening Hours
Thursday 24th June	Noon - 11pm
Friday 25th June	Noon - 11pm
Saturday 26th June	Noon - 9pm

Thoughts on Last Year's Festival

The success and popularity of any beer festival is often gauged by how little or how much beer is left. The 2009 Scottish Real Ale Festival held in the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh in June was a real winner; almost 130 beers from over 30 Scottish breweries quenched the thirst of 3000. A record attendance on the Friday saw beer supplies stretched and although a decent choice was maintained throughout Saturday, supplies eventually ran out at 7pm, just two hours short of our scheduled closing time. Apart from the seventy volunteers, few will appreciate the planning and preparation involved in running a beer festival. So here is a pictorial journey from set-up on the Monday to take-down on the Sunday.
	Monday morning and the empty Music Room of the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh awaits the action.
The scaffolding arrives for the construction of the bars and stillage.
	The construction begins. Now how does this go again?! Just big Meccano really.
And now for the techy bit! Hoses and parts of the cooling system. Step forward anyone who likes puzzles!
	And now for the beer!
With the cooling jackets over the gravity casks, it’s time to construct the bars.
	The bars are up,dressed and the hand pumps are being positioned.
Now it’s all ready for opening time. There are two bars; one on each side of the hall.
	And opening time it is.
Only a few pints left.
	Take-down starts; now for the messy bit.
All the scaffolding and planks that were taken up the stairs from the alley on the Monday are now taken back down on the Sunday.
	Hand pumps and all the other stillage equipment are stored in the van that will take them back to CAMRA head office in St Albans.
Stored according to their brewery, the empty casks sit in the alley awaiting collection.
These pictures tell the story of the work that goes into every CAMRA beer festival throughout the country, but there’s also the planning that goes into getting the right venue, ordering the beer, ensuring there are enough staff to run the event, organising the catering, the products stall and the entertainment. If you are a CAMRA member and you fancy getting involved in this year’s festival then click here for a staffing form!
Text and pictures by F Chrystal

Copyright © 2009
Any views expressed on this site are those of individual contributers and local campaigners, and not necessarily those of the Campaign for Real Ale Ltd
External websites linked on this site are the responsibility of their respective owners and we cannot be held liable for their content.

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