Final decision looms on future of Dudley real ale festival

Members of the Dudley and South Staffordshire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale are being urged to turn out in force at the branch meeting in The Old Swan Inn – known locally as Ma Pardoe's – in Halesowen Road, Netherton at 8pm on June 27.

Branch chairman Stuart Betts said that a main sponsor had now been secured for the Dudley Winter Ales Fayre, but unless a festival organiser could be found to head up the organising team it would not be possible to put on the three-day event.

It is provisionally booked for November 24 to 26 at Dudley Town Hall.

"We want as many members as possible to come along before we make an decision to pull the plug.

"We are still hoping to find a Camra member who would be willing to take on the key role. It could also be offered as a shared role.

"We have many of the other roles in place to share some of the burden with the organiser," said Mr Betts.

Neighbouring branches, including Wolverhampton, Stourbridge and Halesowen, Cannock and Walsall have offered support in providing volunteers to help run the event which features real ales from all over the country including many from breweries in the branch area.

Shelly Bentley, Camra deputy regional director, said: "We would hate to see the Dudley Winter Ales Fayre go down. We hope someone will come forward to take on the organiser's role and keep it going. It is a key part of the real ale scene in the Black Country."

The Dudley and South Staffordshire branch is planning to put on more social events over coming months in an effort to increase membership including beer scoring pub tours, brewery visits and trips to other beer festivals including Kinver Craft beer and Cider Festival in August, Wolverhampton Beer Festival next month, Sedgley Beer Festival in September and the Black Country Boating Festival at Netherton in September.