This year’s Twickenham Beer and Cider Festival – organised by the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) – was held at The Turk’s Head on Winchester Road.
CAMRA is an independent, voluntary, consumer organisation that campaigns for choice, value and diversity amongst beers and pubs.
CAMRA CEO Tom Stainer spoke on the importance of these festivals in the fight for pub survival following the pandemic.
He said: “At CAMRA we represent consumers who enjoy beer and pubs, what we’re there to do is campaign for the best possible products for those consumers.
“It’s about protecting and keeping pubs open and making sure that as many people as possible have access to as good pubs as possible.
“It’s also about making sure that there’s this really great breadth of beer choice out there, so it’s really good quality beer but also, we’re supporting independent breweries and making sure that it’s not just two or three massive corporations that are basically telling us this is the beer that we’re going to sell you.”
The number of pubs in the UK dropped by nearly 15,000 from 2000 to 2020 data from Statista shows, and it is likely to be even less following the pandemic.
Tony, 66, volunteers for CAMRA’s Richmond and Hounslow Branch.
He said: “Quite a few of our volunteer workers work in many festivals, so it’s spreading the word and giving people the best experience you can and they go out and they will support beer festivals, and therefore directly they’ll support their local pubs.
“People haven’t got the spending power they used to have we understand that.
“You’ve got to aim to be the best, you’ve got to offer the best value, you’ve really got to work hard at it, and we’re proud to do that.”
