It is with a sense of both disappointment and inevitability that CAMRA Durham announce that there will be no CAMRA Durham Beer Festival this year. While the 2020 CAMRA Durham Beer Festival has been cancelled, the 40th CAMRA Durham Beer Festival has merely been postponed, and will happen when it is both safe and appropriate.
Even if restrictions are lifted before the end of August, when the festival would have started, CAMRA Durham feel that our efforts and energies as a campaigning organisation would be better directed at encouraging customers back into pubs and clubs. This is an incredibly difficult time for everyone, not least the licenced trade, and that trade will need as much support as we can give to get back on its feet. Much depends on when things change for the better, but we are considering ways to celebrate this change when it does occur, possibly by arranging co-ordinated pub visits in towns across the county, and promoting locally brewed beers.
In the meantime, please stay safe, and if you can support our pubs and breweries by taking advantage of any delivery or “click and collect” services they offer, please do. Of our breweries, Consett, Hill Island, Durham, Yard of Ale, and McColl’s are currently offering such facilities, as are a number of pubs, a list of which can be found by visiting https://www.camradurham.org.uk/ or CAMRA's WhatPub website
If you’re aware of any pubs or breweries offering these services, and they’re not on our list, please let us know so that we can update our records.