Banish the Winter Blues at Our Free Festival of Beer, Food and Music

Fans of the hugely popular Gosforth Beer Festival won’t have to wait until the summer to experience Gosforth Civic Theatre’s family-friendly weekend of beers, bands, food and games, because from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 February, the first-ever winter event will be welcoming young and old in from the cold.

With last August’s event attracting over 2,000 visitors from across the North East, the team at the charity-run venue were keen to celebrate the fifth Gosforth Beer Festival this year by introducing their first ever winter edition that promises to warm Newcastle’s cockles with over 20 craft beers on cask and keg, sound-tracked by a packed bill of musical talent and flanked by mouth-watering street food trucks catering for families of meat lovers, veggies and vegans.

Drinkers can expect to dive into seasonal ales, stouts, porters and bitters from celebrated local and national brewers, including Allendale, Almasty, Cloudwater, Moor, Northern Alchemy, Outthere and Two by Two, with more to be announced during the build-up.

Sampling amazing beer is guaranteed to work up an appetite. Fortunately, the festival has a mouth-watering roster of street food vendors, including Goodtimes Tacos,Shanty Town, Cheese Sir!,Cocina Peruand Memories of the Black Forest.Meat Salt Smokefrom Gateshead’s butchery gurus Block & Bottle will also be supplying salami all weekend, for those who love to snack as they sup.

For those with an appetite for live music, Gosforth Civic Theatre is the perfect place and the Gosforth Winter Beer Festival will be showcasing some of the best Tyneside talent. Friday night kicks off with the raucous and infectious sound of the Baghdaddies. These local world music legends have perfected a brassy blend of ska and Latin influences, infused with Balkan melodies guaranteed to tickle everyone’s fancy.

Saturday sees a specially curated line-up on the Live in the Lounge Presents… stage, which is headlined by Kentucky Cowtippers. The self-appointed Bluegrass Kings of the North will be joined by South Shields singer-songwriter Eve Simpson, delivering her uniquely mesmerising vocals and devastating lyrics. Hambone, the house band of Newcastle’s Monkey Junk Blues Club, will also take to the stage to serve up a bellyful of traditional, gospel, delta and 12 bar blues.

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 Bubbleologist Jesse Wardkeeps the little ones entertained. 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.

This aims to be a truly inclusive, affordable festival greater than the sum of its parts, made even more special by the cause that underpins it. Liberdade Community Development Trustis the charity that owns and runs the Gosforth Civic Theatre. Liberdade [pronounced 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. Liberdade group members will be volunteering at the Festival all weekend – making them a key part of the team behind the event.

If you’d like to get involved in Gosforth Beer Festival, you can sponsor a Liberdade volunteer, or sponsor a beer. Contact info@gosforthcivictheatre.co.uk for more information.

Gosforth Beer Festival runs from 4pm on Friday 21 February to 8pm on Sunday 23 February at Gosforth Civic Theatre. Entry is free.