The first Guernsey Real Ale Festival 1992
La Feire Guernésiaise d'la vraie Bire
Saturday 10th October 1992 times 10.30 am - 11.45pm one day £3 ticket
Venue-Friquet Butterfly Centre
22 beers on and the BOTF was- Ringwood Old Thumper
The event was a total sell out, 500 people drank the festival dry by 8.30pm
Entertainment- lunchtime Jazz, afternoon Belles and Broomsticks Morris, evening Sarnia Big band
With only 500 glasses produced for this event, these have become collector’s items in Guernsey terms.
Ralph the cat- head of recruitment...
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Second Guernsey Real Ale Festival 1993.
La Feire Guernésiaise d'la vraie Bire
We decided there was scope to run a two day festival on the back of the success of the previous years sell out so again we went to the Friquet. We split into two sessions on the Friday for the only time, it was later decided this could be dropped in future years as many of the evening people would take the afternoon off work and .make a day of it.
Friday 8th October 10.30am - 3pm & 5pm - 11.45pm £3 per session
Saturday 9th October 10.30am - 11.45pm
Venue-Friquet Butterfly Centre
56 beers on and the BOTF was Brasserie des Deux Rivieres- Coreff Red Label
From Morlaix in Brittany
We also had 3 ciders and 5 bottled beers on
The committee had the bright idea of faxing sports and social clubs with pre event ticket offers and as a result Friday night tickets sold out weeks before the event. This we continued to do for all bar our final festival. It gave us revenue in hand to pay HM Customs the duty when the beer arrived on island and we developed an extremely good working relationship with them. The festival was a great success and thankfully not dry at the end ( though choice was very limited ) We could not afford people thinking it was not worth going on Saturday evening.
The entertainment- Fri eve- Jenkins Ear, a folk sea shanty group, Sat afternoon Belles and Broomsticks Morris, Sat eve Trevor Cleveland's Swing Company, Jazz.
Festival logo- Ralph the cat, who the previous year spent an 8 hour shift on recruitment, sadly he was no longer with us, so it was in memoriam.
The bar
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The 1994 Guernsey Gourmet Beer Festival (SPRING)
( a part of the Guernsey in April- Food and Wine Fair)
NOT numbered as in our October series
Venue-Friquet Butterfly Centre
We were asked to run this event. The festival made a loss due to the lack of promotion…never again would we run a festival that we did not totally control and promote ourselves!
Friday 15th April gourmet evening- food and beer £8.00
Saturday 16th April 10.30am-11.45pm £3.00
51 beers all still on at the end. The BOTF was Theakston’s Old Peculier
We had 12 ciders/perries and 11 bottled beers
The entertainment- Fri eve Trevor Cleveland's Swing Company Sat afternoon Belles and Broomsticks Morris, sat eve The Worst Show on Earth (folk)
logo- chefs hat- Gourmet Guernsey logo . Many of the leftover glasses are still being used for branch events. The only festival we did with a straight glass, not a tankard.
Eileen and Ross sum up the situation...
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Third Guernsey Real Ale Festival 1994
La Feire Guernésiaise d'la vraie Bire
Friday 7th October 10.30am-11.45pm £3 advance, £3.50 on door
Saturday 8th October 10.30am- 11.45pm
Venue - Friquet Butterfly Centre
The first festival to use our blackboard beer menu system, refined over the years and a very useful resource.
54 beers on,BOTF was Brasserie des Deux Rivieres Coreff Black Label, sister beer to the winner the previous year, again from France
8 ciders/ perries and 8 bottled beers.
The entertainment- Fri eve Worst show on earth, Sat afternoon Belles and Broomsticks Morris, Sat eve Trevor Cleveland's Swing Company.
festival logo "Vanilla la vache", The Guernsey Cow
The first outing for the blackboard....
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Fourth Guernsey Real Ale and Cider Festival 1995
( we add cider to the title )
La Feire Guernésiaise d'la vraie Bire et Cidre ( a "du" was missing)
The Thursday night was designated Quiet Night with no entertainment.
Our last festival at the Friquet Butterfly centre prior to its redevelopment.
Thursday afternoon we held a Biere D’Honneur for invited guests
Thursday 5th October 5-11pm £2.50
Friday 6th October 10.30am-11.45pm £3.50
Saturday 7th October 10.30am- 11.45pm £3.50
Venue Friquet Butterfly Centre
58 beers on and the BOTF was Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild
10 ciders and 6 bottled beers
The entertainment-thurs eve- Quiet night, Fri eve Original Gravity, Sat afternoon Belles and Broomsticks Morris, Sat eve Original Gravity Folk duo of Camra members from UK.
festival logo- Camra Man-..some say he bears a remarkable resemblance to a branch member…
We get a visit from the Guernsey Brewery dray and Guernsey Shire Centre shires, special shot for publicity.
