Hundreds
of cider drinkers were unable to get into the 2nd Bath Cider Festival
at the Bath Pavilion last weekend, after the event sold out within 30
minutes of the doors opening.
The event,
which took place over the weekend of the Friday 15th & Saturday 16th
February, sold out on both evening sessions with hundreds of people turned
away at the door. The promoters had urged people to buy tickets in advance,
and as it turned out this was good advice. Even the Saturday afternoon
session, which is always quieter, had twice the crowd of last year's event.
Over
two-and-a-half thousand cider drinkers crammed into the Pavilion over
the weekend to enjoy a large range of ciders and perries from across the
West Country and Wales. Food - in the shape of a dozen or so hog roasts
- was served up by Chris Lilley Catering; and entertainment was provided
by local Scrumpy & Western band The Mangledwurzels whose mix of Wurzels
classics and cider-swilling favourites went down almost as well as the
cider!
Plans are
already underway to expand the event into a three day festival in February
2008, with a Thursday evening session add to allow more people through
the doors to sample the cider and music. And if you can't wait that long;
CiderFestivals.co.uk have announced the 1st Bristol Cider Festival which
is planned for 8th and 9th August. You heard it here first!
Festival
Awards
The 2nd
Bath Cider Festival offered 86 ciders and perries from across the West
Country and Wales - and a four man panel was forced to taste them all
and judge which were the best on offer. It's a tough job, but someone
had to do it! The judges were Lee Hamber (Events Supervisor at Bath Pavilion),
Mark Lilley (Buyer for Ciderfestivals.co.uk), Seth Pitt (Guitarist of
The Mangledwurzels) and Frank Blades (Editor of the Real Cider & Perry
Website).
The winning
ciders were:
Cider
of The Festival 2008: Rich's Farmhouse Medium Cider (Rich's
Farmhouse Cider, Somerset)
The following
ciders and perries were also rated as "Recommended" by the judges:
Yarlington Mill Medium Cider (Gwatkin), Farmhouse Medium
(Gwatkin), Kingston Black (Hecks
Cider, Somerset), Sweet Perry (Gwynt Y Ddraig), Blakeney
Red Perry (Hecks), and Blakeney Red Perry (Gwatkin).
And finally
unofficial 'The Cider The Mangledwurzels Would Most Like To Take Home'
award went to Gwatkin's Farmhouse Medium, after Jethro Tool was seen loading
up a 20 litres into his van after the show!
Drink up
thy cider!
Feedback
Just wanted to say how pleased we were
to receive overall winner at the 2008 Bath Cider Festival. It is a great
honour and has given every one who is involved here in making Rich's good
traditional farmhouse cider very proud, it makes all the hard work rewarding,
We have got the certificate in pride of place in our Cider Shop for all
to see! Thank
you again.
Kind regards,
Jan (Rich's Farmhouse Cider)
