Harwich & Parkeston Winter Ale Festival 2017

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

Wednesday 22nd November 17.00 to 23.00 (preview evening*)
Thursday 23rd November 11.00 to 23.00
Friday 24th November 11.00 to 23.00 (live music in the evening)
Saturday 25th November 11.00 to 23.00 (live music in the evening)
50+ different real ales, cider and bottled continental beers

* There will be a slightly restricted choice on our preview evening as some beers will not be ready but we're still open to everybody.

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 and branch members have been dashing about to assemble 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.

If you're travelling to the festival we are right on the doorstep of Harwich International Port, a short stroll from Harwich International Station, and we have all you need at the festival including fantastic food from the friendly team at the Cafe on the Pier.

Our theme this year is the 350th "birthday" of the iconic Harwich Treadwheel Crane - the wooden workhorse that helped build, repair and load many ships.

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 in 2016 we were delighted to be able to continue in a new home - we tweaked the festival name slightly to reflect our new location.

Grub, Grub, Glorious Grub

Not only do we have some great real ale but we also have some fantastic food to go with it. The expert team from the Cafe on the Pier in Harwich are Tendring CAMRA members themselves so know what goes well with our beer list. The champion sausage from our recent Harwich Sausage Festival, from Primrose Pork, will be on the menu alongside three-times runner-up, from Warnes of Parkeston, so don't miss the chance to compare these two outstanding bangers.

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 the Bottle Kiln and Kings Arms pubs, 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 (HPQ) 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.