Darwen set for first real ale and cider festival (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Darwen set for first real ale and cider festival

11:30am Wednesday 26th September 2012 in News By Dan Clough, Reporter

THE first Darwen real ale and cider festival will be held later this year.

A large number of pubs throughout the town have already signed up, but a full list of partici- pants will be drawn up at a meeting tomorrow night.

The festival will be funded by Darwen Town Council and organised by chairman of the town’s Bar U scheme Adam Hulme.

It will take place over 10 days, from November 30.

Mr Hulme, manager of The Bridgewater in Railway Road, said the festival aimed to get people moving around the different pubs in the town.

He said: “We don’t want people to think it is just about The Bridgewater or the town centre.

“We will be producing a map with all the pubs listed, and on the back will be an advert for every pub with a little box in the corner. When people visit a pub they will be given a stamp, and once they have collected 10 stamps they get a free T-shirt.

“We want to get people moving from pub to pub and not just stay in one of the main ones.”

Mr Hulme said the festival idea had proved popular among publicans. He said: “The interest I have had has been fantastic. Nobody has said no.

“Even pubs that don’t usually sell real ales are looking at getting something in specially. There has been a resurgence in real ales and this town has a lot of real ale drinkers. It will be great as we have a number of small breweries in the town, as well as the bigger ones like Thwaites nearby.”

Mr Hulme said he hoped there would be more festivals in future.

He added: “The plan going forward is to link it with some sort of folk music festival.”

Town council deputy chairman Trevor Maxfield said: “It is a great idea as it will drive commerce into the town at a time of year when there is nothing going on.

“As a town council, we want to build up a calendar of events throughout the year.”

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