Category: Steel City Festival

Well, it’s that time of year again.  Christmas seems like a distant memory, Tryanuary has been and gone (hopefully trampling the stinking carcass of Dryanuary underfoot as it goes!) and beer festival planning starts. October might seem a long way off but organising a successful festival takes a lot of time and effort. As always it starts with appointing a committee. The first meeting sorted out most positions but there are still some vacancies for anyone willing to get more involved. The main requirement is enthusiasm, but we’ll try our best to find positions that suit whatever skills you can bring. A budget has been set and sent to head office for approval, which should be a formality following the success of last year’s festival. We are also needing more volunteers. Last year we had 137 volunteers who worked tirelessly to ensure that over 5,000 visitors enjoyed themselves drinking nearly 19,000 pints of beer or cider without any major problems. We are hoping to increase visitor numbers and extend the bars this year, which will of course need more bar staff. We are also wanting to increase the numbers of people working the various stands such as tokens, admissions, membership, games etc. And it goes without saying that we will need more people to help with build-up and take down. The build-up is particularly satisfying as you get to see the bars and stalls being assembled, and everyone involved feels a real sense of pride at what they achieve ready for the opening day. Over 200 casks will need positioning on 40 metres of stillage, fitted with all the necessary cooling equipment, and then tapped and vented ready for serving. Around 20 bars need to be assembled, bolted together and beer engines fitted. Membership tables, token tables and games tables all need setting up in position, and the correct banners erected. Token sets need readying for that initial rush of visitors. All our existing glasses need washing and bringing round to the entrance desks. And of course it all needs doing in reverse once the festival is over. Days are split into smaller sessions so you don’t need to work a full day and you can even do an evening spot without needing to take a day off work. Volunteers receive a festival tee shirt, free festival glass and beer tokens to spend at the bars. More importantly you’ll have the satisfaction of being part of a team and helping to make this year’s festival even more successful than last year. So if you feel you’d like to get involved, or would like to have a chat with one of us about it, you can contact us at festival@sheffieldcamra.org.uk. Alternatively why not come to one of the planning meetings held the third Tuesday of each month as detailed in Beer Matters diary, or a CAMRA branch meeting, or even one of the Pub Of The Month presentations where you’ll be able to find one or more of the planning committee who will be happy to discuss things in detail. We look forward to seeing you

Steel City Beer Festival returns to Kelham Island After a successful switch last year from Ponds Forge to Kelham Island, the 41st Steel City Beer Festival returns to Sheffield’s “Valley of Beer”. Taking place within the Kelham Island Museum on Alma Street over 4 days from Wed 21st to Sat 24th of October the festival will be even bigger than last year, and will be officially opened by guest of honour, Sheffield ‘s Master Cutler, David Grey MBE. The festival’s nominated charity this year is the Master Cutler’s Challenge. Real Ale fans from all over Yorkshire and even further afield will arrive to sample the best the UK brewing scene has to offer. Expect to see over 200 different beers and around 30 ciders and perries from some of the countries finest breweries and cider makers.  A mix of old favourites and new or rare speciality beers from around the UK will be available on cask in 3 separate bars within the museum, with drinking and seating areas split across 2 levels. All 18 of Sheffield’s breweries will be represented and a number of unique beers are being brewed specially for the festival. Once again live music will be featured on 3 of the evenings. Thursday night sees the Leeds City Stompers playing their brand of retro blues, Friday night is local blues-rock legends Downtown Roots, and Saturday features Loxley Silver Brass Band in the afternoon, and an evening set from the high energy Rock ‘n’ Rollaz. As an interesting twist on the festival entertainment, close-up magician Ben Z will be mingling with visitors on Friday and Saturday and amazing them with his sleights of hands.  Festival Entertainment Officer Bob Swift said “I am delighted to have booked some of the best acts in the region for this year’s festival who will be appearing on a large stage with first class professional sound and lighting systems. Live music is a big part of the local real ale scene and the festival will offer a very high standard of entertainment”. More stalls are planned for this year. The usual wide selection of food stalls will be there as well as a dedicated bottle bar so beer fans will be able to take home some of their new found delights.  Traditional pubs games are on offer at one of the stalls, including cheese skittles, shove halfpenny and bar billiards (Wednesday only)  The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) will also have a stall selling a variety of books on beer, pubs and brewing. Further information can be obtained by visiting the website sheffield.camra.org.uk/festival.  Anyone wishing to volunteer to help during the festival, or take up one of the few remaining sponsorship opportunities, can also find relevant information on the website.

This year is the 41st beer festival Sheffield & District Campaign for Real Ale has run under the Steel City banner although only the second year at Kelham Island Industrial Musuem – the change of venue last year proved a very popular move. This year will be a very similar event to last year, not wanting to spoil what everyone loved, but there will be some tweaks to improve it based on feedback from both staff and customers. If you don’t know where the museum is, you need to be on Alma Street in the Kelham Island District about where the Fat Cat pub , Kelham Island Brewery, Craft & Dough pizza restaurant and Urban Quarter burger restaurant is located. This is a short walk from bus stops on Nursery Street (Harlequin pub – buses 47/48/53/87), bus stops on Gibralter Street (Shakespeare’s pub – buses 57/79/79A/81/82/84/85) and the tram stop at Shalesmoor (Blue/Yellow routes). There is a long driveway from here to the museum between the river and the apartment blocks. When you arrive at the admission gate you need to pay your admission fee, obtaining your wrist band (if you are a CAMRA member claiming discount entry please have your membership card ready to show) and also pay the glass deposit. We will have a choice of pint or half pint glasses (both will also have a third pint line if you want to drink in smaller  taster size measures). The glasses are branded with this years festival logo along with the sponsors logo. You can return the glass when you leave the festival to get your deposit back or keep the glass as a souvenir of your visit! Once in you need to buy beer tokens to spend at the bars. There are a number of stalls selling them around the festival. Our bar staff as a result do not handle cash which speeds up service and improves security for us. The merchandise, games and food stalls all take cash however. We will have around 150 different real ales available to try this year. Once again the main beer list has been put together by our branch Chairman Andy Cullen featuring a showcase of beers brewed in or near Sheffield along with some interesting, new and rare beers from further afield and of course some old favourites. Andy is being assisted in sourcing some of the beers by our friends at Blue Bee, Dave from Steel City Brewing and Tom at the Beer Engine. Tom will be organising a pallet load of beers from London breweries which will be split between the pub and the festival. Meanwhile our Cider bar managers Sarah & Hazel have been busy sourcing a selection of cider and perry – expect a range of around 20-30 to choose from, brought from across the UK although we will still as ever have the locally produced Woodthorpe Hall cider too. There are a number of different areas in the festival: UPPER HALL Access via the door on the right when you arrive on site then over the footbridge, here you will find a long beer bar and the main cider bar, the traders serving cold food and the live music stage. Expect a great atmosphere when there is a band on! The Upper Hall is also home to the merchandise stand and Tombola. VICTORIAN COURTYARD An atmospheric outdoor area, this links all the other areas and is also home to the street food stalls serving hot food. You will also find the smoking area and toilet facilities alongside the courtyard. MILLOWNERS ARMS Fronting on to the corner of the Victorian Courtyard, this is a recreation of a traditional local pub with seating and bar where our staff will assume the role of the pub landlord and serve from a variety of beers on handpump. This area of the festival will always offer a comfortable, quiet and relaxing atmosphere. The Millowners Arms is also home to displays of items from local brewery history. MARQUEE A large beer bar and a cider bar is in the marquee along with plenty of seating. The marquee is also home to the traditional pub games and the CAMRA membership stand. ENGINE ROOM This is a new area added to the festival this year, home to the steam powered River Don Beam Engine, one of the working exhibits the museum is famed for. We are hoping this will be fired up for a demonstration on Friday afternoon, the rest of the time this room will provide additional indoor space for drinkers, which I’m sure will be much appreciated if we aren’t as lucky with the weather as last year!