After a brief hiatus online in 2021, a much-loved spring beer festival is set to make a comeback on the Cornish coast this March.
The Driftwood Spars brewpub and microbrewery in Trevaunance Cove, St Agnes, will host The Dark, The Light & The Saison over three days beginning on Friday 4th March; the event promises beer tastings, live music and great pub food across a range of indoor and outdoor settings.
On Saturday 5th – St. Piran’s Day – The Stuns’ls shanty group will be singing and taking part in the Trelawney Shout, as the Cornish anthem reverberates around the Duchy.
Louise Treseder, Landlady of The Driftwood Spars, said: “We’ve really missed hosting events like this and, unless anything drastic changes, a physical event will go ahead this year with some sensible precautions in place.”
She added: “We’re looking forward to sharing our love and knowledge with lots of new faces eager to find out what handcrafted beer is really about, as well as reuniting with old friends we haven’t seen since the start of the pandemic.”
As the title suggests, a wide range of beer styles will be available to try in a selection curated by Louise and Mike Mason, Head Brewer at The Driftwood Spars Brewery.
As well as the award-winning in-house range, there will be at least 10 guest beers from across the UK to sample falling into the categories of dark, light and saisons.
Mike and Louise have chosen some of their current favourite beers made elsewhere in Cornwall and further afield; breweries involved include Old Sawley Brewery, Wild Beer, Gates Brewery, St Austell, Bluntrock and Fallen Acorn.
There will be informal tasting sessions scheduled over the three days and an opportunity to meet guest brewers, but most of all the event is a chance for people to simply enjoy good beer, music and food as a community again.
Mike commented: “It has been two years since we’ve even been able to imagine an event like this, and during that time a lot of people have discovered our brewery – or had their eyes opened to the world of beer – for the first time. This is a chance to come out from behind our zoom backgrounds and from under those beer subscription boxes and get back to enjoying beer as it was intended – together.”
Louise added: “The last two years have been extremely tough for pubs and breweries so we’re keen to support others out there in the brewing industry and get a bit of a buzz going again, especially around cask beer which obviously took a huge hit during the various lockdowns.”
In fact, the event will also mark the annual release of a very special batch of cask beer; Pete’s Mild is made every March to commemorate Founding Brewer Pete Martin, who sadly passed away in 2020.
It will be available to a selection of other pubs across Cornwall where Pete proudly delivered beer during his lifetime – he was a well-known and popular figure on the Cornish beer scene for several decades.
For updates on The Dark, The Light and the Saison, follow The Driftwood Spars on social media.
