Eastbourne Beer & Cider by the Sea Festival to showcase biggest local line-up yet

What do Kicking Donkey, Lewes Castle, Terrible Disgrace, Black Dragon and What Time Are The Red Arrows On? all have in common?

The answer is that they are all names of tipples gracing this year’s Beer & Cider by the Sea festival on Eastbourne’s Western Lawns on 17 - 19 May.

Beer and cider enthusiasts can enjoy sensational cask ciders, craft beers and real ales – and members of CAMRA will be on hand to guide visitors through the carefully selected tipples available.

With its biggest ever local selection of real ales - 80% exclusively from Sussex – plus a wider range of craft beer and cider to choose from, drinkers can look forward to more than 110 tipples in total across the three days.

Curated by CAMRA, the vast selection of local and national brews – from quirky micro-breweries to established names – will be at the festival with many introducing specially brewed tipples for the event.

There will also be bottled beers, gins, cocktails, Pimm’s, Prosecco and wines on offer plus tasty food stalls, including Khao’s Thai, The Big Kahuna Burger and Greek Souvlaki.

The festival has four sessions – 5pm-10pm on Friday 17 May, 11am-4pm and 5pm-10pm on Saturday 18 May and 12pm-5pm on Sunday 19 May.

Each of the four sessions will have top class entertainment ranging from festival crowd pleasers Fat Freddie & The Queens to the laid-back sounds of jazz repertoire piece The Frontier Jazz Jam.

Popular tribute band Fat Freddie & The Queens headline on Friday followed by Brotherhood, Stray Dogs and The Morph Ska 6 on Saturday while the all-day session on Sunday will see The Court Brothers, Frontier Jazz Jam and Southern Revivals all take to the live music stage.

An Eastbourne Borough Council spokesperson said, “Beer & Cider by the Sea is a fantastic festival with a massive selection of high-quality beers, ciders and perries and all washed down with live entertainment.

“It’s a fantastic way to get ready for spring and summer with plenty of drinks, a stunning location on Eastbourne’s fabulous seafront Western Lawns and an opportunity for some al fresco relaxation over a pint or two.”

Beer & Cider by the Sea is run by Eastbourne Borough Council, in partnership with CAMRA, and with the support of sponsors Euro Self Drive and the Birchwood Group.

To view the 2024 Tasting Notes and to book tickets for either Beer & Cider by the Sea 17 – 19 May or Eastbourne Beer Festival 3 – 5 October, visit EastbourneBeerFestivals.co.uk.