New beer festival with real local flavour at Nottingham Castle in 2025

A new beer festival will launch in the grounds of Nottingham Castle next year with a real local flavour. A group of Nottinghamshire breweries have come together to stage the two-day city centre event.

Organisers say it will complement rather than rival CAMRA's flagship Nottingham's Robin Hood Beer and Cider Festival, held at Trent Bridge cricket ground in West Bridgford in October. It was 2017 when a beer festival was last held in the castle grounds, brought to an end by the tourist attraction's £12m transformation.

Called Castle Beer Festival, the new event will take place on on Friday, April 4, and Saturday, April 5, with street food traders and live music on the bandstand as well as beer.

Castle Rock, Blue Monkey and Shipstone's and Lenton Lane are amongst those on board. So are Lincoln Green, Nottingham Brewery, Black Iris, Neon Raptor, Hollow Stone, Liquid Light, The Grumpy Fish and Sneinton Cider Company.

Richard Neale, owner of Shipstone's Beer Company, said: "Nottingham Beer Festival is a much bigger festival with hundreds and hundreds of beers, whereas we want to put something on in Nottingham city centre, which is really important.

"We have been speaking to Nottingham Castle for a while about the possibility of putting on a smaller, more intimate beer festival back at the castle because everyone seems to want it. It's just highlighting the diversity of the independent brewing scene in Nottingham, which is massive.

"Nottingham CAMRA focus on real ale only whereas we're able to sell lagers, craft beers and cask ales. We are working with a couple of cider producers to make sure we have cider bars on and some of the other breweries do their own gins and spirits. There will also be soft drinks."

Rather than having tokens, the festival will have an entrance ticket and then drinkers will pay at the bar. Organisers have been working closely with the castle and Nottingham City Council to stage the event.

Richard said: "They've been fantastic. They're really keen to make it a long-term project so we are not just talking about once, we're talking about developing it over the next couple of years and we're signing up to a long-term partnership."

Cllr Sam Lux, the city council's executive member for Carbon Reduction, Leisure and Culture, said: "We’re delighted to welcome this new event to Nottingham Castle which will celebrate local independent businesses. Nottingham is home to a wonderful array of breweries, and we’re looking forward to showcasing our home-grown talent in the heart of the city. The castle’s magical aesthetic and atmosphere will offer beer and cider enthusiasts an unforgettable experience in 2025.”

Around 2,800 tickets per day will be going on sale this Friday, November 22, on gigantic.com.