As you will no doubt be aware by now, CAMRA’s Members’ Weekend is being held in St Albans this year, over the weekend of 18th and 19th April. It’s the first time in CAMRA’s 55-year history that our branch has hosted this occasion, and it’s a great honour for us.
What’s even more exciting though, is that we’re taking the opportunity to stage something bigger and better than any previous members’ weekend has seen before: allow me to introduce you to St Albans City of Ale.
With more than 1,000 CAMRA members from across the country due to descend on the city, we’ve worked with local publicans to line-up an incredible range of events celebrating all things real ale, real cider, craft beer, and pub culture. Working with our local licensees, we’re ready to give our visitors the most amazing showcase of everything St Albans has to offer the discerning drinker.
And the best news is, you can join in the fun – regardless of whether or not you are participating in the Members’ Weekend.
In total, there are more than 50 separate events taking place across St Albans, including:
- Six separate pub beer festivals
- 12 brewery tap takeovers
- Five “meet the brewer” sessions
- A range of special talks and presentations
- An array of live music performances covering all kinds of genres
- Plus various other entertainment
You can find full details of all these events at stalbanscityofale.org.uk/events
We kick things off on Thursday 16th April, when at 6pm we will be gathering at the Farriers Arms to unveil a new blue plaque, commemorating it as the location of the first ever CAMRA branch meeting. We hope you can join us for that special celebration, as well as enjoying many of the other events taking place across the weekend. Start planning your diary now!
But that’s not all. On our City of Ale website you will also find 10 specially-curated pub trails, covering every real ale pub in St Albans and surrounding areas. These are a great way to navigate your way around the city as you take in the impressive range of real ales and ciders on offer. To see the pub trails, head to stalbanscityofale.org.uk/trails
Despite the massive range of events we already have lined up, new ones are still being added – so if you’re a user of Facebook or Instagram then please give us a follow there to keep up to date. Just search “St Albans City of Ale” on those platforms to find us.
This will be a weekend like no other – a great opportunity to see St Albans’ always excellent pubs at their very best, while meeting CAMRA members from all over the country here enjoying our local area.
I hope to see you out and about!
