All you need to know about the CAMRA North Sussex Spring Equinox Beer & Cider Festival

Ahead of the eighth eiditon of the event, which will take place at Drill Hall in Horsham town centre over Friday, March 18 and Saturday, March 19, we look back at the history of the much-loved festival.

When was the CAMRA North Sussex Spring Equinox Beer & Cider Festival first held?

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The festival was first held on the Spring Equinox weekend in March 2014 at the Drill Hall in Horsham.

For the previous 25 years, the North Sussex branch of the Campaign for Real Ale had run their annual festival in a marquee at the Ardingly showground as part of a Historic Vehicle festival, but when it became clear that event would be coming to an end, the search for a new venue began.

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Mike Head, from CAMRA North Sussex, said: "We had a chat with Gareth Jones, who ran the Beer Essentials shop in Horsham and organised the Horsham beer festival each September, to gauge whether we thought there was an appetite for two beer festivals in Horsham each year, and we agreed there was.

"Hence our March event was born, with lots of advice and assistance from Gareth in the first year and in years to come when his shop became our main ticket seller, until his very untimely death in 2019."

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What local breweries and cider makers have participated in the festival?

Local breweries and cider makers have always been part of the event, and have regularly proved popular in the judging for beer and cider of the festival.

Kissingate Brewery in Lower Beeding and Brolly Brewing in Wisborough Green in particular have several awards on display at their breweries from past events.

How has CAMRA North Sussex Spring Equinox Beer & Cider Festival evolved over the years?

Mike added: "Over the years we have made some small changes, such as dispensing with live music to enable us to set up more chairs for festival goers, introducing wine from a local winery to hopefully attract a wider audience, and selling an ever increasing number of tickets online.

"Fundamentally, though, the format works in the venue and continues to be a success with many festival goers coming every year along with a healthy number coming for the first time and vowing to come again the next year.

"We are also delighted to have raised several thousand pounds for our festival charities over the years from generous donation from our festival goers."

Where can I buy tickets for the 2022 CAMRA North Sussex Spring Equinox Beer & Cider Festival?

Tickets for the Friday 6-10pm session are £5, Saturday 11:30-4.30pm session £7 and Saturday 6:30-10pm £4. Your entry fee includes a free pint for card-carrying CAMRA members, although this will exclude a small number of the beers.

Please note that tickets for the Saturday afternoon session have now sold out. If you want a ticket for that session, please email [email protected] where a waiting list for returns is being kept, or you could hope that there are some returns on the door, which usually occurs.

Tickets for the two evening sessions will be on sale on the door, as well as being on sale in Horsham from the Malt Shovel and the Anchor Tap, Crawley’s Brewery Shades and East Grinstead’s Engine Room and online at https://www.northsussex.camra.org.uk/equinox. Online sales will be subject to a small booking fee.

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