On Friday, January 23, Salisbury’s popular beer and cider festival Winterfest, has returned for another year but at a new location, Brown Street.
The annual event was a huge hit this year, as ticket sales reaching capacity well before the event even started. Beer and cider enthusiasts from all over Wiltshire flocked to the new location to taste the latest brews and delicious food.
“It is wonderful that Winterfest is back after an enforced absence of three years to brighten the scene in Salisbury in late January,” said Ian Turner, chairman of the Salisbury & South Wilts branch of CAMRA. “So many people have missed it – CAMRA volunteers who enjoy organising it and our loyal supporters who love this chance to sample a great range of beers and ciders. We are particularly grateful to Amanda and Jonty Newbery, owners of the Brown Street venue, for providing us with a new home.”
Festival coordinator Andrew Hesketh said they introduced many novelties this year:
“We’re going online with online ticketing and card payments, which makes it a lot more streamlined. Otherwise, it’s the same good-quality beer. The same variety of beer. We have porters; we have stouts, miles, we have sessions. Premium bitters, something for everybody.”
Volunteer Nigel Allison told us about the trends among beer drinkers:
“With it being a winter festival, there is the emphasis on the darker beers, so perhaps we’re selling a few more darker beers than the lighter ones.
Ian Turner explained the reasons behind this year’s venue change:
“When we started doing Winterfest, we started in Castle Street club, and we were there for quite a number of years, which was great. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I suppose, the festival grew and outgrew the venue. So we moved it to the British Legion club in Salisbury. Sadly, they closed the club a few years ago, so we had to move again. And that was the time we came, and we found that the Chapel and so the last time we held this, which was just before COVID, it was in the Chapel, which was a lovely venue. Everyone loved it. And then, since COVID, the Chapel has changed hands and is no longer available. So we found ourselves in Brown Street, we’ve not moved very, very far,” said Ian.
Despite the high demand for tickets, festival organisers reported a smooth and successful event, with guests leaving satisfied and already eagerly anticipating next year’s festival.
Festival coordinator Andrew Hesketh announced their plans for the next big event:
“There is a summer festival run in conjunction with Wiltshire Creative and Rotary Club at the Wiltshire Creative Arts Centre and St Edmonds church. That’s on the seventh and eighth of July, where there’ll be 60 plus beers and up to 10 ciders.”