Winter Ales Fayre 2008
Sponsored by Holden's Brewery
DUDLEY CONCERT HALL
(formerly known as Dudley Town Hall)
St James's Road, Dudley
November 27th, 28th and 29th 2008.
OPENING HOURS
Thursday 5.30 to 11pm
Friday 12noon to 11pm
Saturday 12noon to 11pm (whilst stocks last - for the last couple of years they have lasted right through to the end)
SMOKING POLICY
Dudley Concert Hall is now obviously a no smoking building.
Last year we used a pass out system for those who wanted to go outside and we hope to employ a similar system this year.
IMPROVED FOOD
Following the great success of inviting Little Devils Diner to provide hot food last year, we are pleased to say that they will be back again this year with even more on offer!
VOLUNTEERS WELCOME
As you may or may not know, the festival is organised and staffed by volunteers.
If you think you could give us some help we would be happy to have a few more hands on deck.
Please download this staffing form and return it to us if you would like to offer your services.
You don't need to be an expert on beer to help . . . or have a beard!
You don't have to help out every night (or even a whole session). Even
if you can only do a couple of hours it will be much appreciated.
One of our voluteer staff
'For all those folks who help out there will be a special 'Thank-you trip'
ROAD SAFETY
CAMRA is aware of its public responsibility and has always tried to encourage Road Safety. With this in mind we will again be operating the Dudley Driver Scheme whereby designated vehicle drivers will be offered free soft drink vouchers. We thank people for being responsible.
GETING THERE
If you're arriving by bus, the Concert Hall is 5 minutes walk from Dudley bus station.
Walk towards the market place, cross Castle Street and go down New Street.
Continue past the police station and turn left into Priory Street. Take the first right down St James's Road. The Concert Hall is 100 yards on the right. For more information on bus routes visit Travel West Midlands.
Driving in the area is complicated by one way streets (so the above instuctions won't work unless you're on foot).
Parking is possible (if limited) on St James's Road. Alternatively, the nearest large car parks are:
Priory Road - To get from there to the Concert Hall walk up to the island and turn right into Ednam Road after 200 yards turn left up St James's Road. (4 mins).
Stafford Street near the top of The Inhedge (where the original Summer beer festivals were held) . To get from there to the Concert Hall walk down The Inhedge. Turn right into Wolverhampton Street and then left into Priory Street and left into St James's Road. (5 mins)
By train........you're stuffed!
Dudley hasn't had a train Station since the 60's. The nearest one is Dudley Port, which is between Wolverhampton and Birmingham. You can catch the bus to Dudley from the station (on the other side of the dual carriageway) or a taxi will be around £5.
It might be worth stopping over, in which case take a look at our accomodation section, which has links to accomodation sites for the area.
BEERS
We expect to have over 60 different real ales on offer.
We have a policy of not issuing an advanced list of beers that we hope to sell at the festival.
There are a number of reasons for this, not least the fact that as real ale isn't completely predictable, it could be that a beer may not settle during the time the festival is on and we cannot guarantee that any particular beer will definitely be available.
Rest assured though, there are going to be some local favourites, some very strong beers and a wide selection of styles and flavours.
For the last few years we have still had a good selection of beers to choose from on the Saturday Evening sessions which lasted till 11pm.
All drinkers will need to have a glass before being served.
BEER TOKEN SYSTEM
In all previous years we have had a cash bar rather than make drinkers use pre-bought tokens.
Unfortunately due to a tiny number of people abusing our trust in a serious way last year (as well as other festivals around the country), we have made the decision (like many other branches) that we must now move to a token system to avoid a similar situation occuring again.
Tokens will be available on entry and can be bought throughout the evening. Any value left over at the end can be refunded or donated to charity.
We know it isn't ideal for the customers, but as with many things in life, a small number of people have spoilt it for the rest of us.
CIDER AND FRUIT WINES
As well as real ale, we will also have a range of traditional ciders and fruit wines.
So if you have friends who don't drink beer they don't have to miss out on all the fun!
ENTERTAINMENT
As usual there will be plenty of entertainment on stage.
ADMISSION CHARGES
Non-CAMRA Members
Thursday Evening / All day Friday - £3
(plus £2 voucher - see below)
Saturday - £1 all day
(plus £2 voucher - see below)
Card-carrying CAMRA Members
£1 per session / FREE all day Saturday
(plus £2 voucher - see below)
VOUCHERS
To speed up the admission process (which caused queues in previous years due to the number of questions we had to ask) we will continue with the same system as the last few years which worked very well.
ALL entrants will be charged the appropriate admission price PLUS £2.
ALL customers will be given a voucher which can be redeemed for either a glass or £2 towards beer (for those who choose to bring their own glass - note CAMRA insist that all glasses used are appropriate).
You could get a refund straight away if you don't need a glass or beer (though this won't apply to most people).
Festival glasses can be kept as a souvenir of a great time or you can get a refund of £2 when you leave.
