Whether you're new to real ale or a seasoned enthusiast you're sure to find something to talk about at our modest but adventurous festival!

Our venue is slap bang in the middle of Dovercourt. It is easily reached by public transport or there are is a great choice of local hotels for an overnight stop. If you're planning a visit there is plenty to do outside of the festival in Victorian Dovercourt or Old Harwich - history, art, pubs and, of course, superb fish and chips!

But - going back inside the Kingsway Hall - you'll find a friendly, relaxed atmosphere where you can sample a huge range of different beer styles assembled and cared for by Tendring CAMRA members. We like to champion dark and seasonal beer styles but we recognise the joy of contrasting the light and the dark!

So - if you like beer you'll find old friends and (our guarantee) something you've never seen before. If you're a novice you'll find bewilderment soon gives way to enlightenment when you talk to our friendly staff and get to sampling!

We look forward to welcoming you!

  

A small selection of our endeavours to seek out the rare and unusual; Martello's Strong Oat Stout makes its way from Felixstowe to Harwich via Pilot Launch .. and a few hours later the festival's specially converted Vauxhall Vectra travels to the Harvey's Brewery in Lewes to take delivery of the first cask of Christmas Ale to leave the brewery!

A new beer from the Harwich Town Brewery will also grace the stillage this year. Named after Dovercourt's famous Victorian Entrepreneur, Bagshaw's Folly is a 3.6 golden bitter with more hop character than you can shake a row of terraced houses at.

STOP PRESS - Harwich Town Bagshaw's Folly has been declared a major success after becoming the 4th cask to be drained dry on Friday evening. Harvey's Christmas Ale was the first to go after some serious attention from our Danish friends. Richard and Ken are already under pressure to drive to Lewes again next year and Paul is being begged to reveal which pubs have ordered the rest of the Bagshaw's Folly!

Despite the snow and ice we have our full range of beers in excellent condition and a great atmosphere. You can taste (currently - until we run out!) all 6 of the Champion Beer of East Anglia finalists and see if you agree with the judges. We still have 48 real ales available for Saturday evening plus Belgian beers and cider plus and the fabulous Onion Band playing from 8pm.

 

Staffing

The festival is staffed by CAMRA volunteers and our staffing officer this year is Evan Clackett. Click here to send Evan an E-mail.

If you would like to volunteer to work at the festival here is our staffing form - you'll also need to study the Festival Safety Policy and the CAMRA Volunteers Handbook.

Information for Travellers

The festival is located in the Kingsway Hall in Dovercourt Town Centre. The venue is a large, Victorian Church which dominates the town's skyline. Bus passengers on the 103 and 104 services from Colchester should alight in the Town Centre and walk up Kingsway towards the sea front. Rail passengers should alight at Dovercourt station which is one stop before Harwich Town on the line from Manningtree. There are currently hourly direct services from London Liverpool Street.

Resources

Click here to find the venue on Streetmap.

Click here to get a train timetable from National Express East Anglia.

Live on FRIDAY EVENING we have local favourites Buckshee

Live on SATURDAY EVENING, the festival simply wouldn't be the same without the Onion Band!

Can you help spread the word? Please print some posters and put them on your noticeboard!

After another frantic few weeks our beer list is available for download!

Last Year's Festival

Last year's festival page is available here.