Dronfield Beer & Cider Festival

Dronfield & District CAMRA are proud to announce that we are organising our first ever real ale & cider festival this year, taking place at the Pioneer Club from 30 May to 1 June. This is the weekend the 3 Valleys festival used to take place so is already established in the diary as a time for beer in Dronfield! Although 3 Valleys is no more, many of the pubs in Dronfield will be putting on independent events on the Saturday and forming something of a beer festival fringe alongside our own event. The CAMRA festival, run jointly with the Pioneer Club, will see us build some temporary bars in the club including on a newly constructed decking area featuring up to 50 real ales served fresh from the cask and a selection of traditional ciders including some sourced from local producers – all served in a commemorative Dronfield beer festival branded glass. We’ve also arranged for our friends to bring their craft beer bar to the event with an interesting selection of beers on keykeg, can and bottle. We anticipate a beer list featuring all the beers brewed around the Dronfield area such as Drone Valley, Barlow and Collyfobble; some of the highlights from our wider region including Sheffield and Chesterfield along with a mixture of new, interesting and classic beers from further afield. The festival begins with a preview night featuring the full beer range on Thursday from 6pm to 10pm with free entry to everyone – just pay a deposit on the glass (you can return the glass for a refund or keep it as a souvenir). Friday the festival opens at midday and again the daytime session is all about the beer and cider with free entry available to all until 5pm, in the evening entry is £3 (free for CAMRA and Pioneer Club members) and live music will feature. Bars close at 11pm. On Saturday the festival again opens from midday until 11pm and entry is £3 (free for CAMRA and Pioneer Club members) with a variety of entertainment planned. Throughout the festival the Pioneer Club’s own bar will also be open as part of the festival serving a full range of beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks. Snacks will also be available from the bar in addition to food served by street food traders outside. The Pioneer Club can be found on Stonelow Road, about 5 minutes walk from Dronfield railway station. There is also a bus stop right outside the venue served by Stagecoach bus 44 (Sheffield-Woodseats-Coal Aston-Dronfield-Chesterfield) and TM Travel bus 14/15 (Dronfield Civic Centre-Coal Aston-Apperknowle-Marsh Lane/Chesterfield). The main local taxi companies are Network and City, both have smartphone apps for ordering cabs. CAMRA VOLUNTEERS As with all CAMRA beer & cider festivals, ours is entirely organised, managed and staffed by enthusiastic volunteers to share our love of good beer and cider and raise funds to support the campaign (if you aren’t a member check out camra.org.uk for more details, don’t forget members get free entry to the festival at all times or if you sign up as a new member at the event you’ll get a free pint or two on us). So we’re looking for volunteers to help out at the event including constructing the festival on the days before, staffing it when we are open and taking it all down and packing the kit away on the Sunday afterwards. As a volunteer you don’t get paid but there are a number of perks for staff including free drinks. Roles whilst we are open include serving on the bar, selling beer tokens, promoting CAMRA membership, working admissions and glass sales/returns, admin and more. Visit our website www.dronfield.camra.org.uk for a staffing form. PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS AT THE FESTIVAL We have a number of opportunities to support the festival financially through sponsorship including having your logo on the souvenir glasses, on the back of the beer tokens, a banner over the stage, on individual beer casks etc. Please contact festival chairman Rob Barwell for more details by email: rob@newholme.com. On behalf of Dronfield & District CAMRA

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