This August Gosforth Civic Theatre hosts their biggest beer festival yet with a weekend of craft beer, live music and street food.
With free entry, thirty 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 will bring people together from across the area with 2,000 expected to pass through the doors of the charity run venue across the weekend.
Beer lovers can expect to see old favourites and new releases from some of their favourite local and national breweries such as Almasty, Cloudwater, Northern Alchemy, Magic Rock, Summer Wine Brewery, Box Social, Kernel, North Brewing Co, Beavertown, Fourpure, Wild Beer and many more to be announced closer to the festival, with a greater emphasis on keg beers.
Food will be served up across the weekend from Tyneside street food powerhouses Scream for Pizza and Meat:Stack, alongside exciting newcomer Cubanos with each taking one day of the festival.
Entertainment this year is on another level. Friday will be played out to a backing track of funk, soul and disco from local DJ Tim McVicar, while there’ll also be a beer tasting session for the uninitiated.
On Saturday, alternative music and culture magazine NARC. curate a night of upbeat, sonically diverse and engaging live bands for your delectation, bringing down the hugely popular Rob Heron and the Tea Pad Orchestra; and Behold a Pale Horse and Twist Helix, both of whom will be fresh from playing NARC Fest the month before. While during the day there will be family fun to entertain the little ones while the grown-ups enjoy a pint!
Then see out the weekend in chilled fashion; the venue will be bringing out their retro gaming consoles for gamers of all ages to discover and rediscover classic video games from Mega Drive to Commodore 64. While live music from local artists including acoustic duo FIKA and The Phil Davids Good Times Band among others throughout the afternoon and early evening will provide the backdrop to the Sunday.
What really sets Gosforth Beer Festival apart, though, is the ethos behind the venue and those who run it. Gosforth Civic Theatre aims to shape a more accepting and inclusive future for everyone, driven by Liberdade Community Development Trust, the charity that owns and runs the venue. Liberdade [lib-er-dar-jie] gives people with learning disabilities and autism the opportunity to belong, work and get involved in the arts and their community.
Joseph Harrop, Gosforth Civic Theatre Building Manager and chief organiser of the Festival said, “We’re so excited by this year’s festival and to be working such respected names in Newcastle to help bring people together. We wanted to not only put on great beer, music and food, but make it a weekend where anyone can come down and have a good time.
And every penny you spend on the bar will go back in to Liberdade and the running of the venue, helping support people with learning disabilities and create a real artistic asset for Newcastle and the North East.”
If you’d like to get involved in Gosforth Beer Festival, you can volunteer for the weekend, sponsor a beer or, if you’re a musician or in a band, get the opportunity to play on the Sunday stage. Contact info@gosforthcivictheatre.co.uk for more information.
Gosforth Beer Festival runs from 4pm on Friday 3 August to 8pm on Sunday 5th August and entry is free.
See more info and full line up here
