Real Ale festival need volunteer pint pullers

ORGANISERS of the Oakwood Real Ale and Music Festival are on the hunt for volunteers to help get the ale flowing at the popular annual event.

There will be over 200 hand-pulled beers and 20 ciders available at the giant ale festival, which is set to open its doors to the public next Thursday, but there will be not be enough people to serve up the gallons of grog unless between 20 and 30 volunteers are found before the big day.

Now organisers have issued an appeal for anyone who fancies trying their hand at pulling pints to get in touch.

"We have more beers and better entertainment than ever before but we need volunteers for all the nights during the week,” said Rudi Enos, organiser of the event which runs for three days until next Saturday (20).

“We are about 30 to 40 people short of the 200 that we need and without them it will not happen quite as we want it to.

“Some extra helpers would be enormously useful.”

Volunteers are being urged to get in touch if they can help set up the bars today (12) and tomorrow (13).

For the festival itself they will also be needed to help man the bars, work on the entrance and to sell beer tickets inside.

Rotherham’s annual real ale festival is the biggest hand-pull celebration of brewing talent in the UK.

Last year’s event welcomed more than 12,000 visitors and this year there is even more musical entertainment to keep ale lovers occupied, along with an array of food and refreshments.

Tickets are priced between £7.50 and £8.50 and can be bought from Oakwood School and Technology College, on Moorgate, from most of the town’s supermarkets or by visiting the Rotherham Visitor Centre in All Saints’ Square.

The visitor centre is open from 9.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 1pm on Thursdays and 9.30am to 1pm on Saturdays but closed on Sundays.

Anyone wanting to volunteer should contact the school on 01709 512222 and ask for Penny Stones.

Alternatively, they can contact the organisers via e-mail at [email protected].