Ashcroft Arts Centre's Ale Festival is back by popular demand – and this summer we are bringing you some of the best beers, ciders, food and live music that the south has to offer!
Quench your thirst with a specially-curated selection of 20 local beers and ciders from breweries including:
- Bowman Ales: Hampshire's own SIBA and CAMRA Award-winning micro-brewery, based in Droxford, Meon Valley. Brewing since 2006, Bowman Ales have gone from strength to strength and their brews are a mainstay of our bar at Ashcroft Arts Centre.
- Andwell Brewing Co.: Named after the village near Basingstoke where they are based, Andwell Brewing Co.'s ethos when brewing their range of real ales, IPAs and lagers is to produce great beer at a great price with only the finest ingredients, offering a high-quality product for excellent value.
- Fallen Acorn Brewing Co.: Fallen Acorn Brewing Co. are a micro-brewery found in Gosport, Hampshire in 2016. They strive to deliver the highest quality beer from traditional styles and brewing techniques, push modern boundaries and combine a range of brewing experience, with a passion for innovation.
- Langham Brewery: An independent, steam-heated microbrewery situated between the Sussex towns of Midhurst and Petworth, the award-winning Langham Brewery's passion is to produce innovative, distinctive and flavoursome craft beers using quality ingredients and traditional and contemporary skills.
- Lilley's Cider: Based in the heart of Somerset, Lilley's Cider are passionate about creating modern English cider, pushing beyond traditional styles by incorporating only the most delicious fruit and ingredients to make delightful, memorable cider.
- Powder Monkey Brewing Co.: A unique Gosport-based brewery bringing together history and a love for craft beer, Powder Monkey brew a diverse range of beers including impactful hop-forward pale ales and IPAs, dark porters and stouts which carry depth of flavour, and crisp refreshing lagers.
- Vibrant Forest Brewery: A small brewery located in the New Forest, Vibrant Forest's passion is to brew modern beers packed with flavour. Every style and every beer they create is designed to bring forth a grand adventure in flavour, exciting the palate and stimulating the taste buds.
You can also enjoy food from JJ's Street Food, who will be dishing up firm festival food favourites – from pies and fries to burgers and beyond.
Both the day and evening sessions at Ashcroft's Summer Ale Festival will be soundtracked with electrifying live music, including high-energy rock 'n' roll and rootsy foot-stomping blues:
Day Session (12pm - 4pm):
Headlined by Black Kat Boppers: A hot-boppin', groovin’ four-piece group playing rockin' Roots music with a guitar, double bass and stand-up drums, Black Kat Boppers hail from down on the South Coast Water Way in Southampton.
There’s been triumphant performances at Glastonbury Festival many times, Port Eliot, Bestival and Hyde Park (with Blur and The Specials), they’ve rocked Notting Hill Carnival, Rockabilly Rave Latitude and Viva Las Vegas – not to mention performing a memorable set with Florence and The Machine at Bob Geldof’s 60th birthday party!
Black Kat Boppers have also been joined on stage by Damon Albarn as well as working with him in the studio and have regularly had Clash legend Paul Simonon playing with the band. Influences of rhythm 'n' blues, jump 'n' jive, ska, doo-wop are brought together with a lucky energy into a sound that is raw, authentic, sincere and unique.
Support from Rosco Shakes: A high-energy jump blues and rock 'n' roll band inspired by greats like Louis Jordon, Big Joe Turner and T-Bone Walker, Rosco Shakes deliver their music with extraordinary prowess and showmanship.
Rosco Shakes are rapidly gaining recognition as a band to look out for, having recently had airplay on the BBC Radio 2 Blues Show and BBC Radio Somerset. They're also making waves on the festival scene including a headline slot at The Rabbit Hole at Glastonbury Festival 2022:
Evening Session (6pm - 10pm):
Headlined by Grizzly and The Grasshoppers: Featuring the gritty vocals and original music of frontman 'Grizzly Rhys' Morgan (acoustic guitar, lap slide and lap steel guitars, dobro, djembe, and harmonica) with Neil Shervell on drums and Joseph Rideout on bass, the music of Grizzly and The Grasshoppers is Roots and Blues at its foot-stomping best with a touch of folk and a hint of traditional blues!
Whether playing a dark and dirty tavern or a packed and muddy festival, Grizzly and The Grasshoppers draw people in with their energy and original style – Grizzly's lap-slide performances and the drum-offs are particular crowd pleasers.
"[Grizzly and The Grasshoppers] provided an adoring audience with big-hitting vocals to go along with those intricately weaved guitar techniques..." – RAWRAMP, Ilfracombe Blues Festival review
Support from The Devil's Damned String Band: A bluegrass band from the South of England, playing a mixture of their own material and bluegrass covers. The Devil's Damned String Band have played numerous gigs and festivals, including Boomtown and Isle of Wight Festival, and aim for you to have as much fun as they do.
Tickets: £7 per session + £10 for a book of 6 beer tokens (Half pints) - Beer tokens will also be available on the door.
Event: Day Session: 12:00pm - 4:00pm / Evening Session: 6:00pm - 10:00pm
As we will be using part of Ashcroft Art Centre’s car park to set up a food vendor and outdoor seating there will not be as many spaces available in our car park as there usually are. There are plenty of car parks nearby, closest walking distance to Ashcroft Arts Centre is as follows:
Osborn Road East Car Park PO16 7ES (3-minute walk)
Osborn Road, Multi storey Car Park PO16 7DS (4-minute walk)
Palmerston Avenue, Car Park PO16 7DN (5-minute walk)
These are pay and display car parks, find out more about this here
