GOSFORTH BEER FESTIVAL 2022
Friday 5 August, 4pm - Midnight
Saturday 6 August, 12pm - Midnight
Sunday 7 August, 12pm - 8pm
FREE ENTRY
IT'S BACK!
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Gosforth Beer Festival; our family friendly free weekend of craft beer, live music and street food; returns after three years and we can't wait to welcome everyone back.
With free entry, 20 taps of the best local and national beer on keg and cask, street food from some of the best loved food trucks in Newcastle, live bands, family entertainment and even retro gaming, Gosforth Beer Festival brings people together from across the area.​
Expect beers, beats and burgers on Friday night to open the weekend, family friendly afternoons over the weekend, a live set from bluesy crowd-pleasers The King Bees on Saturday night and our New Music Stage on Sunday. Oh and beer, did we say we'd have lots of beer - local, national and international? All weekend? Yes, plus our usual bar offer of wine, low alcohol and soft drinks.
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The Line Up
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FRIDAY
MUSIC: DJ Awkward Black Girl
FOOD: Meat Stack and The Big Banh
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SATURDAY
MUSIC: Helen Walkinshaw DJ Set, The King Bees
FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT: Puppetship presents: The Ugly Bug Ball
FOOD: Scream for Pizza and Acropolis
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SUNDAY
MUSIC: Lottie Willis, Eve Cole, This Little Bird, Tommy, Dayna Leadbitter
FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT: Retro consoles from GCT Gaming Social
FOOD: Chuchos and Parm-o-rama
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FAQS
Do I need a ticket?
No! It's completely free and you can drop in any time during our opening hours.
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Do you buy tokens or is it pay bar?
Both! This year we are selling tokens for beers on our festival bar, these can be purchased from our welcome desk when you come through our main entrance and can be paid for by cash and card. It will be cost 2 or 3 tokens per half depending on the beer you buy.
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You will not need tokens to buy drinks from our Theatre Bar, which will be taking card and cash as normal.
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Do you sell anything other than beer?
Yes! Our Theatre Bar will be in operation all weekend meaning you can buy a range of soft, hot and no/low alcoholic drinks as well as wine and spirits. Our Festival Bar will also have a range of cider available.
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Do I need tokens to buy food?
No! Just pay for your food with card or cash directly with the traders outside.
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Can I bring my dog?
Yes please! Well behaved dogs are very welcome, asked at our Theatre Bar for some water to keep them happy and hydrated.
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Will there be vegan and gluten free options available?
We have tried to select food traders who are not only high quality with amazing reputations (and ones we love) but who have a balanced menus who cater for different dietary requirements so each day there should be options for all each day of the festival.
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Will there be seating at the venue?
Yes, we will have seating available throughout with some space cleared in the Theatre on Friday and Saturday evening for dancing. With extra seating in our Foyer, Studio and outside.
Beer
Our Festival Bar will boast 35 unique beers across 15 keg lines and 10 cask lines over the weekend with multiple of some and single kegs of others for people to try when they're down.
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Beers on the festival bar are purchased with tokens that you can buy when you enter the building, you can pay for these with cash or card.
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Beers will be priced at 2 or 3 tokens a half depending on the beer. Each token is worth £1.25, meaning a half will either be £2.50 or £3.75.
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Our Theatre Bar will also be in operation offering a range of non-alcoholic options as well as wine, spirits and commercial lager. Our theatre bar will not be accepting tokens as payment, tokens are only in use on our Festival Bar.
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Please note: We will not be using any glass at this year’s festival. We have sourced high quality, recyclable, single-use cups that are the most environmentally friendly we can find. These come in halves, pints and a 250ml cup for wine/spirit and mixers. This will make for a smoother overall experience for all, a consistent pint for you, the customers (no wet or hot glasses), and a safer environment (no breakages).
Music
For those with an appetite for live music Gosforth Beer Festival will be showcasing some of the best Tyneside talent. Friday night kicks off with a set from DJ Awkward Black Girl. From the Spin City Crew, she loves to play music and get people dancing with a mix of Rock, RnB, Soul, Funk, Garage, Hip Hop, Disco, Electro, Dance, and much more. Expect a nostalgic party vibe with a contemporary twist.
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Saturday evening is tied together by a DJ set from Helen Walkinshaw, who will play records from their personal collection - expect nothing and everything, but you're guaranteed a mucky mixed bag of bangers, where no genre is off limits and Prince will always get a spin. The night is punctuated with a headline set from The King Bees, a five-piece band from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne playing the finest 40s, 50s & 60s Rhythm & Blues from the Chess catalogue and beyond.
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On Sunday is our s new music stage which sees a line up of exciting, emerging artists to close out the festival. Don’t miss This Little Bird, whose music is steeped in emotion and reminiscent of female singer songwriters of the 70s Laurel Canyon scene, or Tommy, guitarist in Holy Moly and the Crackers, who draws on the timeless traditions of folk, country and soul, penning original songs that twist the old into a reflection of the present. Dayna Leadbitter will finish the weekend, representing a new wave of female soul and RnB artists in the city. British-Jamaican singer-songwriter Dayna Leadbitter crafts soulful pop and jazz influenced anthems. Lottie Willis and Eve Cole will play sets to start the day and come to us from the Excellent We Make Culture Young Musician Programme.
Food
Sampling amazing beer is guaranteed to work up an appetite. Fortunately, the festival has a mouth-watering roster of street food vendors, including legendary burgers from Meat Stack, all the Neapolitan deliciousness from Scream for Pizza, the Greek gyros of Acropolis, tantalising tacos from biker’s own Chuchos, and a touch of Teeside with Parmo-rama.
Family Entertainment
The entertainment also extends beyond the stage, with Saturday and Sunday afternoons serving up something for the whole family. On Saturday, mums and dads can supervise with a beer in hand while Puppetship’s Alison McGowan welcomes you to the Ugly Bug Ball! Dress up a dung beetle! Accessorise an earwig? Make your very own sparkly bug puppet and get on down to the party the insect world has been buzzing about... Sunday sees the return of the ever-popular retro consoles from GCT Gaming – a chance for parents to introduce the kids to the joys of the Sega Mega Drive or Commodore 64.
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Puppetship Presents:
Wiggle, fly or crawl?
Come one, come all - to the Ugly Bug Ball!
Saturday, 1pm - 3pm
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Dress up a dung beetle! Accessorise an earwig? - Make your very own sparkly bug puppet and get on down to the party
the insect world has been buzzing about...From shimmering shield bugs to glamorous grasshoppers - any bug who’s anybug will be there!
GET INVOLVED
Want to support us and Gosforth Beer Festival more than drinking our beer?
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We're offering sponsorship opportunities for the weekend. and brew days. If you're interested email info@gosforthcivictheatre.co.uk.
We'd love to have a chat!
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VISITING US
​YOUR JOURNEY & PARKING
Gosforth Civic Theatre is right next to (literally 2 minutes walk from) Regent Centre Metro Station and Bus Interchange, which means we're on a host of major transport links including Tyne & Wear Metro, Arriva, Stagecoach and Go North East bus services and via car from Great North Road. Please visit our YOUR VISIT section of our website to find directions and the best way to arrive at GCT.
We have a small, free car park but this will be very busy and part reserved for artists and food traders over the weekend, so it's best to avoid planning on parking directly at the venue. Please keep this in mind if you're driving over; we detail alternative parking on our YOUR VISIT page so check it out!
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​ACCESSIBILITY
We are a fully accessible venue; all entrances are wheelchair accessible and automatic, there is an accessible toilet on the premises and each area of the building is on one level. Please let us know if you have any questions about access and find out how we can assist.
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