A huge thank you to everyone who came along to support our beer festival especially those who made long journeys from across the country. It was an overwhelming success and far exceeded our greatest hopes in terms of people attending.

This was our first beer festival for 6 years, our first post-Covid, and our first in a brand new venue that itself has only been open since the summer. All of these factors (plus throw in major rail works disrupting travel to Darlington by train) made it very difficult to try and predict the numbers. As was evident we fell way short on our predictions and almost all of our beer was sold out by 5:00pm Saturday. It was hugely disappointing to let down people who were planning to come later that day or Sunday and we apologies for any inconvenience caused.

However, we have to look on the positives. The increased numbers proved to be a benefit to our chosen charity, The Great North Air Ambulance Service, as well as the local craft stall holders in attendance on Saturday, and the local street food vendors in the evenings.

The numbers show there is a real appetite for a CAMRA Real Ale Festival in Darlington. We are already working on next year’s festival, aiming to make it even bigger, but more importantly, improving the experience for all who attend.

Finally, we would like to extend a big thank you to the staff of Hopetown who were professional and supported us fully throughout.

The Darlington CAMRA Beer Festival Committee