The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
More than 100 barrels of real ale were drunk dry as 4,000 visitors made it an inaugural Spalding Beer and Music Festival to remember.
The biggest winners were youth organisations and groups in Spalding who will get to share the £15,000 profit.
Enjoying the festival are (from left) Lanie Spies, Jean Thomson, Zach Spies and Sarah Spies.
The three-day event at The Castle Sports Complex was organised by Spalding and District Round Table and Spalding Ladies’ Circle.
An army of volunteers staffed the event, which ran from Friday night to Sunday, and live music played throughout.
Sam Nundy, chairman of the organising committee, said: “What an amazing weekend it was – far greater than any of our wildest expectations.
“It has been a bumpy road to get this event on but with passion for real ale, a passion for music, a passion to support local companies and, above all else, a passion for wanting to make an event for the community and give back to our community, we remained resilient and were massively rewarded by people turning out in their droves to support this event. And I thank them for that.”
The event was, on the whole, very well received but there was some criticism of the music and bar being inside and frustration from arriving people when capacity was reached on Saturday afternoon.
Sam said: “I would like to take this opportunity thank South Holland District Council for helping us achieve our first-ever beer and music festival.
Crash Vegas opened on stage on Saturday.
“Yes, ideally we would have liked to run it all outdoors and be able to host more people (and that was our original intention) but we will work with the council to address our customers’ feedback and between us improve on the event for next year.”
He added: “I am immensely proud of what the team achieved and looking forward to the 2017 event, the planning for which begins this week.”
Local businesses sponsored all the barrels of beer, and main sponsors were Neame Lea Nursery, Springfields, Clear Insurance Management, Moore Thompson and Loaded.
Anyone wishing to nominate a good youth cause to benefit, be involved in next year’s event or join Round Table should call Sam on 07775 796120.
