Real ale fans raise a glass for charity at festival

Punters were treated to 45 types of real ale, 12 different ciders and two musical acts at the festival, which was held at the Barlow in Edgworth.

The festival was first set up in 2006 to raise the profile of real ale and to raise money for charity. It has already raised an incredible £86,000 for various causes over the years.

The chosen charity this year was the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) in memory of Rob Dobie, who passed away as a result of MND in 2018.

Rob, who was from Bolton and worked as a police officer, was a childhood classmate of Nick Barlow, the Chairman of the Edgworth Real Ale Festival.

The festival aimed to celebrate his life with friends and family.

Nick said that although money is still being counted, the event “was a success in terms of the enjoyment and feedback from the visitors.”

He added: “Everyone I spoke to enjoyed themselves. They said there was a really nice, friendly atmosphere and the volunteers could not have done more to help.

“They were particularly complimentary about the beer choice put together by our Beer Secretary Paul Roberts, as well as the quality overseen by James Fletcher and Dan Taylor, who is the licensee of The Black Horse in Preston.”

Attendees were also treated to live music performances, with the Blackburn with Darwen Brass Band and The Witnesses adding to the merry atmosphere.

The festival lasted from Friday to Sunday and saw Nick and his team planning perfectly to ensure everything was set up and ran smoothly.

He added: “Set up started last Tuesday and we didn’t finish until the day after the festival. What people see is only a small part of it.”

While the event was a success, Nick says that due to the constraints of everybody’s schedules, it isn’t easy to plan next year’s festival straight off the bat.

He said: “We need to sit down as a team and decide what we do next. We all work full time and this is a huge amount of work for a large team, nevermind a small one, to pull off."