Beer & Cider Festival during lockdown

By Jamie Hill - 12 May 2020

Food & Drink

Chris Smith would normally be organising the Old Town and Covingham beer festivals however, with the country in lockdown and Chris furloughed from work he wanted to do something voluntarily that would support the Three Castles brewery who were struggling due to the pubs closing.

He has therefore set up the 1st Swindon virtual beer festival which will take place in your own home via the zoom app on Saturday 23rd May between 3-8pm.

Three Castles Brewery have agreed to provide a selection of 5 different beers including their best and their Dark Knight and 6 different ciders from Broadoak and Snailsbank breweries including Moonshine, Apply dapply and Strawberry and lime. The minimum order of any one type is 2 pints and the minimum total order is 8 pints. The drinks can either be ordered for home delivery or they can be collected from Magnum Wineshop, Wood street, Old Town.

Ian from the Three Castles brewery said “we are so grateful to Chris for his efforts. This initiative has helped us to continue to function during the last month”.

There will be a variety of chat rooms for people to visit including brewer chats, pub quizzes, fun games such as beer pong, comedy and music.

Chris said, “there are already 45 people signed up but the more the merrier and in turn the more money that we raise for the brewery”.

To add to the festival Chris has linked in with Graham Rowcliffe at Dotty’s Café who has agreed to provide a contact free delivery service of his fantastic burgers, hot dogs and chips. He is also in a difficult position because of Covid-19.

Chris said “I wanted to lift peoples spirits by bringing them together to do something that they could enjoy and forget all of the negativity in the world at the moment”.

Chris has even employed his 11 year Old daughter Hope to design a logo for the event (see picture). It was a good opportunity for her to do some artwork as part of her home schooling.

If you want to take part please don’t hesitate as the last day for drinks orders is this coming Friday 15th May.

People can sign up to the festival by contacting Chris Smith – Email:[email protected] and can view the details on the Old Town Beer Festival and Covingham beer festival facebook pages.

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