The 2023 CAMRA Great British Beer Festival was another success, with thousands of visitors again this year, to one of the biggest, exciting and well-known annual events in the beer and cider world. it brings hundreds of UK and international beers, ciders and perries under the iconic magnificent Kensington Olympia roof. Mind you this year there was a huge amount of building work in and around the site, with entry via a different side entrance. Fortunately the overtime ban by ASLEF as part of the ongoing industrial action on the railways, did not impact too badly on people's journeys.

Like all CAMRA events, it would not happen without the help of hundreds of volunteers, including many from this Branch. Mind you, they also need customers to turn up and drink all the wonderful produce, and again our Branch was well represented, as you can see from the photo. It was good to bump into Andy Hayward and his team from our very own Thames Side Brewery.

There are many activities during the Festival, including the final of the Champion Beer of Britain competition. This year it was won by Elland Brewery 1872 Porter.

We now look forward to GBBF 2024, but meanwhile, why not visit some more local festivals, some of which are shown on our Diary & What's On page. Cheers!