Hereford's Beer on the Wye festival hailed a success

Now in its 17th year, the three-day festival at the city's rowing club, which was opened by the mayor of Hereford on July 7 and organised by Herefordshire CAMRA, saw over 5,500 visitors brave occasional heavy showers.

Rain didn’t stop play with these happy drinkers! (Image: Mark Haslam)

The main marquee featured over 385 different beers, ciders and perries across three large bars, while 10 live acts kept everyone entertained on the festival stage. On the Sunday the ever-popular Hereford Big Band led the activities on the festival’s Family Fun Day.

Festival organiser Mark Haslam said: “This year we put up a record number of beers, ciders and perries for festival-goers to enjoy, and that is precisely what they did with over 22,000 pints consumed across a single weekend. The cider bar alone featured a record 192 different ciders and perries - over 120 of them from small Herefordshire producers.”

Festival-goers enjoying the beers and ciders in the Saturday evening. (Image: Mark Haslam)

And there were a series of competitions held at Beer on the Wye.

A 7.1 per cent strength stout from Derbyshire’s Torrside Brewery was named overall Champion Beer, while Lucky 7, a brewery based in Hay-on-Wye, took the mantle of Herefordshire Brewer of the Year with their Beertrix Porter - a 4.3 per cent strength dark beer brewed with cocoa nibs and vanilla.

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Orgasmic Cider of Kinnersley had their White Jersey Cider judged as West Midlands Region Cider of the Year, while Newton Court of Marlbrook near Leominster took the West Midland’s Perry of the Year award with their unusually-named Panting Partridge Perry.

One in three pints sold at the festival are cider and perry (Image: Mark Haslam)

The event is made possible by the efforts of 120 unpaid volunteers, who not only staff the festival when it is open, but many of whom also work to set it up and take it down.

“I need to thank our team of dedicated volunteers, who work so hard and always with a smile. Without their time and commitment there would be no festival," said Mr Haslam.