Canny Bevvy

Joined : 20 Apr 2007 Posts : 5

Has the Newcastle beer festival out grown the Newcastle University Students Union?

In my opinion it has and alternative venues should be discussed for future years.

I'm guessing that the main problem with enlarging the festival is staffing. Would this be a problem?

Joined : 22 Apr 2007 Posts : 23

Hi Mip,
I agree with you.
I visited on friday evening it was a joke. Long wait from 1700, got in finally about 1800, then had to push my way round to get to the various bars.

Then at about 1900 the ales started to drop like flies.
I felt that last year was better than this year however maybe another larger venue should be sought.

It will be intresting to see what happens.

Regards

Andy

The problem isn't so much staffing,although we did appear to a bit short-handed on Friday afternoon, until around 7pm, but there really isn't another suitable venue in central Newcastle.

Northumbria University has a larger floor space, but is up one, if not two flights of stairs, the lift is tiny and the floor is wooden. Try shifting scaffolding, coolers, all the pipework & handpumps up the stairs, or in the lift, then taking in 160 barrels of beer and 100 odd barrels of cider and you'd need a week to set up......

The Arena has been mentioned before, but hire costs would be exceptionally prohibitive.

New venues have been discussed over the last year or two and the festival has become, or seems to have become, more and more popular, particularly the cider bar, which goes from strength to strength and is a huge asset to the festival.

Other than that, it would mean possibly a move out of the city, which might impact on numbers attending and a bigger venue with less people in is not a great solution. Other beer festivals run their Friday night session on a ticket only basis, to limit the numbers attending, which is difficult for those who maybe don't know for definite if they're going to be able to attend until maybe a few days prior, or on the day itself.

The festival has experienced queuing at night for quite a few years now, which means we are still very popular, and by Friday night the beers are going to start "dropping like flies" - we've been open to the public since 6pm Wednesday night, been busy both then and all day Thursday and, unfortunately, we can't have an endless supply of all the beers, otherwise we end up with a lot of waste, by the close of the festival on Saturday.

We are pretty much at our limit for the number of barrels we can get in - approx. 160 this year - we need some space in the middle to get at them and to have the beer lines!! We did actually manage to get an extra Coffee Porter in from Mordue on Friday morning, as it was flying out of the pumps......

If you have any views, or ideas, on suitable alternative venues, please let us know......

Cheers

I've started taking the Thursday afternoon off work, just so that I can get in there for a few hours with no crowds and a full selection.... A few years back I popped in on the Saturday afternoon and there were literally 5 beers left, so I do think that we need a bigger venue.

I always thought the Arena would be great, didn't realise it would be very expensive, but I suppose they can command pretty high prices when they're used to filling it up for concerts etc....

The Northumbria Students Union Ballroom would be perfect, if only it wasn't on the first floor as you say! Northumbria Uni has quiet a large Refectory, and a big hall, on the ground floor of the Ellison Building, and another large Refectory hall type thing in the Lipman building if memory serves - might be available as long as it was during the Easter Hols (which I assume is currently the case with the Uni Bar anyway).

Does Newcastle Uni not have a large Refectory on the ground floor somewhere?

Last edited by on Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:25 pm; edited 1 time in total

I agree that a new venue is required. Every year we go the queue for the Friday night gets bigger along with the waiting time. This seems to now be a major event and the venue needs to reflect this.

I would agree that the Arena, as discussed with friends on Friday, would be the best option. However if cost and breakeven points are so important then an alternative somewhere else should be looked into.

What will happen is that people will reflect on the wait they had to get into the previous years Festival and decide to give it a miss. At least the weather was on our side this year...

Joined : 20 Apr 2007 Posts : 5

IMO the Arena needs to be seriously looked at. This is the sort of size venue which the festival can grow into over the next 5-10 years.

The Newcastle Festivals were the first that I went to. We then started to also go to the Tynedale Festival in Corbridge. The first Tynedale one that I went to was inside the clubhouse and very cramped. Last years was held in marquees and the whole experience was much better for all concerned. Obviously Tynedale RFC has a large grassed area to facilitate this and in the centre of town the space is limited but Newcastle Student Union building is not the place anymore to hold this event.

Serious thought is required before committing to next years venue....

As Festival Organiser we're always on the search for a larger venue. However, the cost must also be right. It's no good just suggesting the Arena and then complaining about the £10-£15 admission charge we'd have to charge. Oh, and the £5 per pint as well just to cover costs. If anyone can come up with a cost effective alternative to the Union Society I'm always prepared to listen.

Joined : 20 Apr 2007 Posts : 5

Let's just say the Arena is in tens of thousands and the Uni in thousands. Don't forget, we also spend three days setting up & taking down which is also costed into the venue hire. This would also present problems at a venue like the Arena as they have a range of other regular activities, such as ice hockey and basketball already scheduled into the site. Getting an entire week for just the festival could take several years to schedule, as happened with the Great British Beer Festival in London moving from Olympia to Earl's Court.

Another possible venue that has been thought about is under one of the stands at St James' Park - at least it's central. If only the club had control over the match dates & times!

A short term measure might be to go advance ticket only, something I personally don't like as I often visit other festivals at short notice. Added to the fact that quite a lot of people don't show, even having bought tickets, thus making the beer order more difficult to assess. It also leaves space for those who could have otherwise turned up on the door. We'd also have to set up a ticket sales system from scratch. I don't need to remind you that the entire festival is organised and manned by volunteers and getting someone to look after ticket sales etc isn't guaranteed.

Joined : 20 Apr 2007 Posts : 5

Thanks for the reply ulsterbusmanbill.

Joined : 30 Apr 2007 Posts : 1

why not go for a marquee on the old exhibition park.

What about Gateshead Stadium?

If it goes to advance ticket only in the current venue, I think that will kill the whole thing off.

Have you ever looked into the Banqueting Hall at the Civic Centre? Then I'd have even less to walk. Seriously though it's a big hall and I know they charged over the odds for the Guildhall but you never know. However you would need extra staff for the 'tango' squad as the Civic don't provide security staff.