Harwich & Parkeston Winter Ale Festival 2016

At the Parkeston Railway Club, Hamilton Street, Parkeston. CO12 4PQ

Wednesday 23th November 17.00 to 23.00 (preview evening)
Thursday 24th November 11.00 to 23.00
Friday 25th November 11.00 to 23.00 (live music in the evening)
Saturday 26th November 11.00 to 23.00 (live music in the evening)
50+ different real ales, cider and bottled continental beers

We're very close to putting on an extravaganza of lovely British real ale, craft cider and amazing international beers at the Parkeston Railway Club. Our suppliers have been scratching their heads, making calls and working their drays harder than ever before to help us put together another great beer menu for you to sip, savour and enjoy. As we always say - there is something for everyone plus beers you have never sampled before.

Our theme this year is 70 years since the decommissioning of HMS Badger - the wartime name for Parkeston Quay - or Harwich International Port as it is known today.

We are a small festival but pride ourselves on a great selection of ales and a warm atmosphere - we look forward to welcoming you!

History

Our little beer festival started in 2002 with a bang - we were literally drunk dry on the Friday night and we even ran out of glasses. The festival continued in the same venue in Dovercourt Town Centre for a further twelve years and we like to think that in that time we built up a reputation as a small but perfectly formed Winter Ale Festival - with a really interesting selection of beers and a nice atmosphere in which to enjoy them.

It was in 2015 that the then Harwich & Dovercourt Bay Winter Ale Festival had to be cancelled at short notice because our venue suddenly became unavailable.

Fortunately the Parkeston Railway Club came to our rescue and we're delighted to be able to continue in a new home - we've tweaked the festival name slightly to reflect our new location.

Out and About

You'll find a friendly welcome and pretty much all you need at our beer festival but if you're a visitor and would like to explore a little more of the area you'll find plenty of advice is on hand. A short hop on the train will take you into the Victorian seaside resort of Dovercourt, with its shops, cliffs and promenade and Kings Arms pub, or Harwich Town with the old seaport of Harwich and 3 great real ale pubs - the Hanover Inn, the Alma Inn and the New Bell Inn.

Information for Travellers

The festival is located in Parkeston Railway Club. Rail passengers should alight at Harwich International station which is one stop before Dovercourt station and two before Harwich Town on the line from Manningtree. Passengers from away will generally need to change trains at Manningtree although there are some direct services from Colchester and London Liverpool Street.

Resources

Click here to find the venue on OpenStreetMap.

Last Year's Festival

Last year's festival page is available here.