Food and beer drinkers delight as popular South Shropshire festival returns

Ludlow Spring Festival is set to take place on May 9-11 within the walls of Ludlow Castle, one of the finest medieval ruins in England at the heart of the pretty bustling market town of Ludlow.  

The popular three-day festival offers a fun day or weekend out for the family, with a bumper line-up of live music, food and drink all weekend plus classic cars, exhibitors and children's activities on Saturday and Sunday .

The festival is a vibrant celebration of great food, drink and live entertainment with a tempting array of global street food to soak up the diverse range of drinks. Beer lovers can enjoy 150 beers - the finest cask real ales from regional independent brewers, plus more modern craft keg beer styles and lagers. 

And for non-beer drinkers there are plenty of other options with Cider, Perry, Prosecco, Wine, Cocktail and Mocktail bars. 

Acting Chair of Ludlow Marches Food and Drink, Colin Lloyd said: “We are looking forward to opening the doors of our 16th Ludlow Spring Festival. New for 2025, we are delighted to be working alongside SIBA to bring the Indie Beer Campaign to this year’s Spring Festival. Celebrating independent brewers is something we feel passionate about and we look forward to our visitors trying the beers we have available. 

"We’re also thrilled to have been invited to host two categories in the CAMRA West Central & West Midlands Area finalist rounds of the Champion Beer of Britain Competition. The winning brews will advance to the National Finals later this year, highlighting the very best in British brewing.

“The event organisers are busy working behind the scenes on our 2025 event and as more of our programme is announced, we hope you will decide to join us for the 2025 Ludlow Spring Festival in May.”

Neil Walker, Indie Beer Campaign spokesperson, added: "The Indie Beer campaign is delighted to be working with Ludlow Spring Festival to bring some of the best local independent beers available to lucky festivalgoers. 

"There'll be something for everyone to enjoy, with delicious modern pale ales and IPAs, as well as traditional British bitters, stouts and porters, plus some specialty and limited-edition beers. Whatever you choose you can be guaranteed that every beer pouring is from an independent producer, brewing for the highest quality and flavour."

The event will feature a quality selection of street food traders, including The Beefy Boys, Pizza Girls, Roly Poly Eats, Mac Daddies, and to compliment this we have our drinks traders including Appleteme, Gwatkin Cider, Ludlow Distillery, Two Farmers and Monkhide Wines.

A selection of exhibitors will be showcasing independent food and drink from the Marches region on Saturday and Sunday in the Inner Bailey. Including exhibitors such as Bellota, Case for Cooking, Ludlow Pickle Company, Distinct Distillers and Shropshire Truffles. 

The Castle Gardens is the special setting for the Marches Transport Festival display, bringing together 100 classic and vintage vehicles over Saturday and Sunday (May 10 and 11).

Families can expect to be entertained with captivating performances from Panic Circus, with circus skills workshops, giant bubbles, and clown shows. Other activities for families and kids are pottery demonstrations with Andrew Richards, activities with The Woodland Trust, and music workshops with Drumrunners (Saturday only). 

Tickets, plus beer tokens, are on sale at: tickets.foodfestival.co.uk