WELCOME TO THE 2017 HOME PAGE OF THE NOTTINGHAM ROBIN HOOD BEER AND CIDER FESTIVAL
Wednesday, 11th October to Saturday, 14th October 2017 in the grounds of the historic Nottingham Castle
We've taken possession of the Castle!
2017 - Volunteer Update - The Festival needs you on Friday & Saturday and for 'Take Down'
2017 Entertainment Schedule now available here!
What/When/Where/Why? |
The Answer can be found here .... |
|---|---|
| When is the Festival? | Wednesday 11th to Saturday 14th October 2017 |
| Where is the Festival? | In the grounds of the historic Nottingham Castle more |
| What are the opening hours? | 11am-11pm Thursday - Saturday / 5pm-11pm Wednesday |
| How do I get to the Festival? | Nottingham Castle is a short walk from the railway station and both bus stations. The tram is about four minutes walk away. Map |
| Let's get down to business - what is there to drink? | In 2016 we offered 1,274 different real ales and well over 200 real ciders. Soft drinks, teas & coffees and country wines are also available. Check out the 2016 beer listings here / and the cider list here. For alternative formats visit our Beer and Cider pages. (The 2017 listings will appear sometime in September) Please be aware there will be continuous adjustments to the lists up to the start of the Festival. |
| What are the admission prices? | Advance tickets & Pay at gate - details for 2017 are now available here |
| Why do I have to pay to get in? | The festival costs a massive amount to stage, with large costs for marquees, lighting, toilets etc. not to mention the beer and entertainment provided. |
| Do I have to buy a glass? | You can bring your own glass, as long as it carries a government stamp. If you wish to drink thirds or halves your glass must have the necessary lines. Glasses are included in ticket prices and are refundable for £2.50 each on exit if you wish. If you have your own glass we will give you £2.50 worth of beer tokens (refundable) in lieu of a glass. |
| Are there Beer Tokens or is it a Cash Bar? | It is strictly a token-only festival. A number of refundable tokens are included in admission prices as explained here |
| Can I buy more beer tokens once inside the festival? | Yes there are token booths where you can purchase as many tokens as you need. They are refundable but only in small numbers, so don't buy too many at a time. |
| How much is a pint? | The price of most beers and some ciders will remain at £3 a pint for all except the stronger brews. This price has remained unchanged for at least four years. |
| Do you sell drinks in a third of a pint? | Yes we do, our glasses are half pint tankards but also have a third line on them. |
| Will there be a programme available? | Yes programmes are available free of charge. Pick one up on your way in - or have a look at what 2016 had to offer here - 2017 will be found on this page when available. |
| Will all the beers listed be available all the time? | Around 800 beers will be on sale from the start, as these run out they are replaced by beers marked as RES (reserve) in the programme. By late Saturday evening we usually still have a few hundred beers on sale, more than most festivals start with. By the way we never run out, rumours that this has happened in the past are merely urban myths. |
| Do you sell lager? | We sell some cask conditioned lagers i.e. real ales |
| Can I bring my own beer? | Not really, that would be like taking coals to Newcastle! |
| Can I bring children? | Children are allowed on site until 5pm, at the discretion of the Castle staff. However all under 18s must leave site at 5pm. Challenge 25 is a licence requirement. |
| Will I be able to buy food at the Festival? | There are numerous catering stalls offering a wide selection of world cuisine more However you may bring your own food, soft drinks and bottled water on site if you wish. |
| Is there a designated smoking area? | Smoking is permitted in an area behind the upper marquee, this is partly covered. |
| Is parking at the venue available? | No parking is allowed on site, there is no space available and vehicle movement is not permitted when the festival is open. There are numerous public car parks situated nearby. |
| What is the policy about bringing dogs? | No dogs are allowed in the Castle grounds, except assistance dogs. This is a city Council ruling that applies at all times of the year. |
| Will there be live entertainment? | There will be a full programme of live entertainment on the Victorian bandstand at all times. Updates will be made available here and will continue to be posted until the programme is finalised. For those who prefer their festival to be music-free there is no music in the large upper marquee. |
| What if it rains? | The festival has several very large marquees so there is plenty of cover if it rains. |
| Will I have to queue to get in? | We do all we can to keep queueing to a minimum, particularly for ticket holders. |
| Can I buy tickets in advance? | Tickets will go on sale on 1st June, they can be purchased over the counter at the Tourism Centre tel. 0115 8762969 (now also open on Sundays throughout July and August) or online (from 1st June). Friday and Saturday tickets sell very quickly so make sure you get to purchase them early. However it is possible to pay on the gate although this is dependent on space being available, for 2016 it proved possible to pay on the gate at all times, but we cannot guarantee this. |
| Do you still need bar staff? | We rely on a large group of volunteers to staff the festival. Applications forms are now available here |
| Can you recommend accommodation? | Nottingham has a very wide choice of hotels, varying in price from budget upwards. We would recommend using the established hotel search engines such as booking.com |
| Are you on Twitter and Facebook? | We have dedicated feeds/accounts on both Twitter and Facebook |
| Is there an app? | The app will be available prior to the start of the festival and a link will appear on this page. (Please note the 2016 app is currently showing on the link). |
| Do you have any gluten free beer? | We aim to have the widest possible choice of gluten free real ales as we can possibly obtain. The number available nationally has increased significantly in recent months. A list will appear on this web site about ten days before the festival. All vegan beers are listed in the programme and identified on the signs on each cask. All of our ciders and perries are gluten free. 2017 updates will feature here |
| Do you have wine? | Country wines are available in both the upper and lower marquees. |
| What if I have an allergy or food intolerance? | We attempt to show all allergen information on our beer signs, but if in doubt please ask our bar staff. |
| Do you offer a Student discount? | Card carrying members of the Nottingham Trent University and University of Nottingham Real Ale Societies are given additional beer tokens on entry, in line with those given to CAMRA members. No other discounts are available. |
| Can I get a pass-out and come back in? | It is not possible to obtain a pass-out to leave the festival at any time, following serious abuse of the system at earlier festivals. In the case of an emergency please speak to the steward on the exit gate. |
| Do you have vegan friendly beers? | We aim to offer a good range of beers that are suitable for vegans. The number of such beers has increased considerably in recent months and it is probable that around 5% of the total number of beers on sale will be vegan friendly, hopefully more. All our ciders and perrys are vegan friendly. |
| What is 'unfined beer'? | Given enough time beer will clear naturally, but there is often not time to allow it to settle in the cellar for a couple of weeks or more, while nature does it's thing. So it has long been the practice to add a suspension of tropical fish swim bladders mixed with sodium metabisulphite (a disinfectant and preservative). This is called isinglass and many beers at our festival will be cleared by this method. The process is known as fining the beer. So look out for beers marked as “Unfined” at our festival and give them a try, we think you will agree it is worth it. And of course these beers are suitable for vegans to enjoy. |
| Can I pay on the gate? | None of the sessions are 'ticket only' and there will be a number of 'pay on the gate' admissions available daily - for full details download the word or .pdf file or visit the ticket page. |
| What if I have a disability? | We aim to make the Festival accessible to anyone with long-term or permanent disabilities, mobility, sight and/or hearing impairments and hope you will find the answer here |
| Do you provide Braille or Large-Print literature? | Large-print or Braille versions of the programme can be made available if requested in advance – please contact festival organisers at least 3 weeks prior to the start of the event. |
| How do the beer prices compare to 2016? | The 2017 Beer prices are unchanged from 2016. |
| What is FFF? | The Festival Fringe Fortnight involves several pubs who offer an 'extended' Festival flavour around the Robin Hood Beer & Cider Festival - details of Ales, Beers, Ciders, Entertainment & Food can be found here |
| How can I contact you? | See Contact page and/or below |
| What if I find conflicting information on this website or my query is not satisfactorily covered. | What if I find conflicting information on this website or my query is not satisfactorily covered. If you have a genuine concern that information on this website is misleading or confusing, please email us. If a page is not marked as information for 2017 then read through the checklists on this page and in the Q&A section to see if new information is likely to be forthcoming at a later date. |
| What if I have difficulties with the internet ticket purchase? | For ticket related queries please contact customerservices@gigantic.com who will be able to assist. |
| What Stewarding and Medical arrangements are in place in the event of an accident or emergency? | In order to provide high quality services and quick response times the festival has secured the services of Showsec, for qualified stewarding staff and Site Rescue for first aid and medical services. |
| We've left room for more questions .... | Watch the spaces above fill out ....... |
Download your poster here
Contact Us
Tickets and admissions - festival@nottinghamcamra.org
For ticket related queries please contact customerservices@gigantic.com who will be able to assist.
Catering, stalls etc. - catering@nottinghamcamra.org
Entertainment - entertainment@nottinghamcamra.org
Beer Ordering - beerorder@nottinghamcamra.org
Brewery Bars - festival@nottinghamcamra.org
Bar Managers - We are always looking for experienced volunteers to act as bar managers, if you are interested please email barmanagers@nottinghamcamra.org
Cider - cider@nottinghamcamra.org
Volunteers/Staffing - staffing@nottinghamcamra.org
All other enquiries - festival@nottinghamcamra.org
Frequently asked questions here
Official 2016 Programme .pdf file
Available to download from the site here if you are not using an app or via the Beer page
The 2016 App
Link to Apple | Link to Android
2016 - The Year of the 'Selfie' - visit our Gallery
Refreshed : 11th September 2017 (305655/310240/310814/312933/315254/323353/332793/333986/337331/340237)