Aroundtown Magazine Winter 2022 edition

FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT
A
festival
for
HEROES
Not all heroes wear capes.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic,
our heroic frontline workers have served
and cared for our communities through
challenging times.
So let’s raise a glass to their
commitment and bravery at this
year’s Rotherham Real Ale and
Music Festival.
Following last year’s virtual
festival, the popular charity event
returns to Magna in March with
three days of beer, bands and a
barrel of laughs from Thursday 3rd
to Saturday 5th March. Named the
Festival For Heroes, all frontline
workers from the public services or
armed forces will receive a free drink
‘‘ there will be four
bars selling over
150 beers and ciders
from breweries
around Yorkshire for
revellers to navigate
their way through’’
token as a thanks for their efforts.
Thanks to the dedication of
a small number of volunteers,
Rotherham Real Ale and Music
Festival has grown to become the
biggest all hand-pulled beer festival
outside of London.
Some of you may be a seasoned
regular with a glass in the cupboard
from every year, while others might
have fond memories of beer festivals
gone by; some might have met their
significant other over a half pint,
while others may have found a new
true love in what’s inside the glass.
The festival was originally the
idea of Jan Charters who was the
headteacher at Oakwood School in
the early ‘90s. The popular event ran
for almost two decades at the school
before it then moved to Magna in
2011 to cope with the rising number
of punters attending year on year.
And with hoptimism in the air
for 2022, this year’s festival looks
set to be bigger than ever thanks to
a stellar line up of bands and topquality
ales that are sure to draw in
the crowds.
As usual, there will be four bars
selling over 150 beers and ciders
from breweries around Yorkshire
for revellers to navigate their way
through, with prices set at £1.60 for
half and £3.20 a pint.
Two of the bars will stock beers
from the four subdivisions of
Yorkshire – north, east, south and
west – with cask ales from popular
breweries such as Abbeydale,
Bradfield, Exit 33, and Stancil.
There will also be the Chantry
Boardwalk bar manned by a team of
volunteers comprising of Rotherham
Sitwell Rotary and Rotherham Rotary
members. The Chantry bar will have
the core range of award-winning
cask ales such as New York Pale,
Iron and Steel Bitter, Black Diamond
Stout, and Steelos.
The fourth bar, will be sponsored
and staffed by members of
‘‘ there will be two stages – one in the main
hall and the other in the Chantry Boardwalk
room – which will play host to a range of
bands performing a variety of genres from
heavy rock to soul and funk’’
Rotherham Round Table and
their companies.
If you don’t like beer, there
will also be a range of wines and
prosecco cocktails and the good
news is the gin bar is back again.
There will also be free soft drinks
available for the designated drivers,
so everyone is catered for.
Of course, it is not just about
the beer. The festival also celebrates
the best that South Yorkshire’s
underground music scene has
to offer.
Throughout the event, there will
be two stages – one in the main
hall and the other in the Chantry
Boardwalk room – which will play
host to a range of bands performing
a variety of genres from heavy rock
to soul and funk.
Kicking things off on the
Thursday night is the Beatleg Bootles
who will be bringing some good oldfashioned
rock and roll with hits by
The Beatles.
Then try not to spill your beer
while laughing at the inimitable
70 aroundtownmagazine.co.uk