Another Friday, another Gin… Festival! At the weekend I attended one of my favourite Gin festivals ran by The Gin Society but instead of Manchester, they set up in Bolton’s Albert Hall for the weekend. I was kindly invited along to see what a small-scale venue was like and enjoy the evening. Included in the ticket price of £12.50 is; entry to the festival, a balloon gin glass, (New Addition) a metal straw, gin booklet and your first drink. Totally a bargain in my opinion!
I took my Mum with me this time as she is a gin drinker and never been to a gin festival before, we arrived just after opening and was welcomed into the beautiful theatre building, tickets scanned, gin glass given and info all about the event. I was super impressed to find a metal straw included with my glass, this is new for the festival and I think it is a great move! I’ve got my metal straw in my bag all the time now.
Inside the event room there was a bar at the back of the room, a few gin distillers showcasing their drink selection, a food stand, token station plus gin shop then a little fun area with an insta-frame to take some snaps with and a big Jenga game to have some laughs with. After flicking through the gin booklet and selecting my first fruity gin to try, we headed to the bars which wasn’t too busy, and the staff were friendly and attentive to each customer. I opted for a gin I had at the last Gin Society Festival in MCR, the Persian Blue Marshmallow gin; it’s so tasty with a bit of lemonade even if it is blue in colour.
There was a duo playing throughout the evening called 'The Harc Duo', who were entertaining the guests and people were getting really into it, singing along and enjoying the music; I believe there was some dancing later on too. I personally thought the band were fantastic and they played music that fitted into the event well and sang some of my favourites from 'A Star is Born'.
My mum picked up some snacks from the food stall whilst I had a gander at the gin shop which were selling select bottles of gin for you to take home, so if you find a favourite gin whilst at the festival you can take a full bottle home with you.
At 7.30pm and 8.00pm there were masterclasses running in the adjacent room, these were being hosted by the gin distillers and were very informative. We enjoyed a sit down, our snacks, gin and the band for a while then headed to the gin stands to try some samples. There were 3 brands at the festival; Riverside Spirits, The Edge Gin and the spirit of George; all of which had samples to taste, information to share and bottles for sale. I enjoyed sampling the fruity flavours at the Riverside Spirits stand and The Edge Gin; I was favouring the Raspberry & Pomegranate but the Pear Drop was lush too.
I had to try a new gin whilst at the festival so my next drink was from Cuckoo Sunrise and was a Honey & Raspberry flavoured gin, hello sweet tooth! I mixed this with the recommend Luscombe sparkly mixer which was a little sweet but let the gin flavour come through. These mixers are all natural and from Devon, England.
Me and my mum had a lovely evening, enjoyed a few gins, found some new favourites and was amazed by the venue. If you want a gin filled, friendly atmosphere and fun festival to visit; I’d definitely recommend this one. The Gin Society are in Trowbridge on the 31st of August and back in Manchester on the 27th of September; all other available dates and tickets can be found here.
