May 17, 2022 10.30 am This story is over 22 months old

Cheers! Lincoln Beer Festival returns next week

The festival has been going for over four decades!
Friends Des Neale, 
Steve Thompson and 
Pete Dray enjoying a drink together. | Photo: Joseph Verney for The Lincolnite

The Lincoln Beer Festival will return to the city next week as The Drill is transformed by volunteers for the event which has been taking place for over 40 years.

The first festival was held in the upstairs room of the Stag’s Head on Newport in 1977 and has been enjoyed by the people of Lincoln, and beyond, ever since. There was a three-year absence caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and the closure of The Drill Hall, which has since reopened under a new name of The Drill, but the event is now back in its traditional format.

The 2022 Lincoln Beer Festival will take place between Thursday, May 26 and Saturday, May 28 (12pm-11pm on Thursday and Friday, and 12pm-9pm on Saturday) with over 50 volunteers helping to ensure it runs smoothly. The volunteers will start work at 7am on Monday, May 23 to transform The Drill ready for the festival.

Lincoln Beer Festival will be serving 106 real ales, as well as 24 ciders and perries. Some of the ales will be from Lincolnshire’s newest brewery – Shadow Bridge Brewery – which opened in Barton-upon-Humber last month.

The entry package for the event is priced at £15, which includes admission, a £3 refundable deposit for the glass and some beer tokens. CAMRA members will also receive bonus beer tokens.

Steve Renshaw, Secretary at Lincoln CAMRA. | Photo: Joseph Verney for The Lincolnite

The festival is organised by Lincoln CAMRA whose secretary Steve Renshaw told The Lincolnite: “We are building back up to our usual format. Obviously we have not done it for three years, but it means a hell of a lot from our point of view at CAMRA as the beer festivals are our main showcase for showing what all our brewers in the country can do.

“It’s also something that the punters really enjoy and look forward to, so we hope they will flock back to the festival.

“We are working with the new management at The Drill and are very pleased Lincoln College have taken it over. We are looking forward to working with their staff there.”