Town gets new beer festival

A new beer festival is being launched to plug the gap left by an annual Shropshire ale event which has been cancelled in what would have been its 20th year.

Real Ale in the Loop's Weekend Walkabout will take place at seven pubs throughout Shrewsbury between October 1 and 4.

Last week it was reported the Shrewsbury and west Shropshire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale had cancelled the Shrewsbury Beer Festival after 19 years.

Organisers say it will definitely return next year once they find a suitable venue after it lost its old home at the Music Hall, which closed with the opening of Theatre Severn.

James Calder, co-owner of The Wheatsheaf pub in High Street, Shrewsbury, said they were keen to still offer ale lovers an event and if successful they hoped to turn it into a twice-yearly celebration.

Mr Calder, one of the organisers of the new event, said: "The beer festival may have been cancelled but we don't want to lose momentum so we decided to organise something in the town to get people coming in and staying, not just for us but for other businesses too."

Other pubs taking part are The Nag's Head, The Loggerheads, The Three Fishes, The Salopian Bar, the Admiral Benbow and The Coach and Horses.

Mr Calder added: "We will have about 70 ales over the weekend and some ciders too, with information on all the beers on offer in each pub with national and local ale available."

He added that during the festival there will be live music and barbecues with outside seating for visitors.