After months of hard work and promotion by numerous Hampshire and Isle of Wight Freemasons, the first ever Chandler’s Ford Beer, Cider and Rum Festival arrived at King’s Court Masonic Centre.
On a sunny weekend straddling the end of July and the beginning of August, one of the Province’s flagship Centres flung its doors open to over 1,000 people across Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and evening sessions.
Festival goers were treated to a wide range of carefully selected beers and ciders from over a dozen local and national breweries, from New Forest based Vibrant Forest to Edinburgh’s Vault City.
For those more fond of spirits, the V-Rum bar offered an interesting selection of canned rum cocktails in a variety of flavours.
The weekend was a roaring success, which was in no small part down to the organisation and enthusiasm of dozens of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Freemasons and family members, who gave up their weekends to tear up tokens, scan tickets, pour pints and sell raffle tickets.
A variety of wackily named beverages were on offer, including a real ale called Pressed Rat and Warthog, a stout called Dark Side of the Spoon and the aptly named blackberry cider, Fanny’s Bramble.
It’s rare to find so many ice cold, keg conditioned drinks at festivals like this, and these proved popular in the soaring temperatures. It was particularly refreshing to see so many of the increasingly popular modern sour beers available, including a cherry flavoured beer and even Iron Brew and Lilt flavours.
My personal favourite picks were the tropical, piney and refreshing pale ale Jackpot Juicer from Southampton based Unity and the deliciously sweet Iron Brew Ice Cream Float Sour from Vault City – both absolutely delightful, although my constant recommendations while volunteering on the bar meant there ended up not being a lot left for me by the Saturday evening!
Nonetheless, the drinks were well stocked and no-one had any complaints about the selection available. One of the most striking things was the jovial and friendly atmosphere of the event, which was commented on by many.
It was wonderful to see the King’s Court site being used to its full potential, with so many happy customers enjoying the beautiful grounds on a sunny weekend. The Centre’s catering staff did a fine job keeping everyone fed, with wood-fired pizza, burgers, chips, tacos, burritos and mac and cheese available – a fine spread and all at reasonable prices.
There was entertainment on show, too, with a variety of singers performing throughout the three sessions, culminating with an Elvis impersonator on Saturday evening, who had everyone dancing and singing as the sun set.
The most important takeaway from the weekend was the truly positive light the event shed on Freemasonry in the Province; the raffles held at each of the sessions in particular raised thousands of pounds for local charities, which the many non-Masonic attendees present appreciated.
A special mention must go to Worshipful Brother Alex Pike, one of the event organisers who just seemed to be everywhere all weekend and who brought his well-known enthusiasm and charisma when presenting the raffles.
The event was also indebted to many of the wives of the Masons who volunteered, who sold huge numbers of raffle tickets and served countless pints of cider and cans of rum cocktails.
But I’m sure no-one will argue that the man who brought the whole weekend together and organised the bars, the kegs and much more with such skill and precision was Worshipful Brother Morgan Tye.
Morgan gave up so much of his time prior to and during the event and even drove to breweries while the festival was running to pick up more beer and ensure there was enough to drink in the evening.
The festival will return on 30th and 31st July 2027. I have no doubt that next year’s event will be as popular and successful as this year’s and I and, I’m sure, many other Hampshire and Isle of Wight Freemasons will be volunteering their time to help out again.