The 2021 Norwich Beer festival – photo © Julian Swainson 2022

44th Norwich Beer Festival opens Monday 24 October

In previous years, music has been hosted in the main St Andrew’s Hall. This time, for the first time, music will be hosted in Blackfriars Hall.

The best-loved beer festival will run from Monday 24 to Saturday 29 October 2022, (October half term), with music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Getting the weekend started early are The Macarnos, an upbeat, acoustic band consisting of four talented friends. Playing covers and original songs on Thursday evening, the band are known for their crowd pleasing, foot stomping performances, skilfully switching instruments and lead vocals.

On Friday lunchtime, visitors will be entertained by the acoustic sounds of singer songwriter Alton Wahlberg. Alton has a unique indie/folk style with raw brutally honest lyrics that regularly make audiences laugh, fall silent then sing.

Friday evening at the Norwich Beer Festival, Blackfriars Hall will be filled with the sounds of the Dirigibles, a new wave, rock and roll style band. A popular four-man group who live, breathe and love the music they play. Visitors to the festival will enjoy the bounce and bop of this infectious ensemble.

Delighting festival visitors from 12.30pm will be three performances. The first by Terry Adams whose influences include David Gray, Stereophonics, Travis, Simon & Garfunkel and Paul Weller. Next up is Faith, offering an acoustic version of their full band, with emotive songs, a rock edge, melodic vocals and dangerous guitar antics. From around 3pm, Felix Simpson will be showcasing his original material and covers. With a decent musical pedigree, with cousins in the successful band Busted, Felix has developed a catchy alt-pop sound, combined with his more powerful soulful vocals.

Craig Harmer, Festival Organiser, explained that Saturday is a good day to visit the festival as it is open all day from 11.30am until 9pm and is not too busy so you can usually just walk straight in at any time.

Craig adds, ‘Gone are the days of waiting for a long time in a queue. We now have a fast-track queue system and everyone is surprised how quickly they enter the Halls and are able to purchase their glass and tokens, now with cash or card, even on the busier Thursday and Friday.’

Entrance is FREE again for CAMRA members all week, who must join the queue and have membership cards ready (unless joining at the festival). CAMRA members are also invited to the preview from 4pm on Monday 24 October and can stay on for the evening session. For those joining CAMRA at Norwich Beer Festival, there is a special 2022 promotion which can equate to 2 free pints – and your entry fee refunded. CAMRA membership gives free access to all sessions and free or reduced access to local and national CAMRA beer festivals. Local branches host socials including organised crawls, young members’ events and day and evening coach trips to country pubs, national festivals and breweries. More information, including the Christmas crawl, can be found on the Norwich & District CAMRA website. Membership also provides discounts in over 4,700 national pubs and free drinks vouchers.

 

Advanced tickets are still available for most sessions or simply pay cash or card on the door! For more information, beer lists and admission times and prices, visit Norwich.camra.org.uk and see ‘Norwich Beer Festival’.