ONE of the region’s biggest annual real ale gatherings will not take place for the second year running.

But organisers of the Durham Beer Festival have pledged, instead, to “vigorously” support celebrations of real ale and cider in pubs and clubs round the county.

The Covid crisis brought about the cancellation of what would have been the 40th festival, due to be staged at Durham City Rugby Club’s Hollow Drift clubhouse, in Green Lane, in late August, last year.

Organisers from the Durham branch of the Campaign for Real Ale have already decided that the festival will, once more, not be staged this year.

Branch chair Paul Dobson said: “The headline is that we have chosen not to hold a festival of our own in 2021, as we typically would, towards the end of the year.

“Instead, we plan to organise and support vigorously a celebration of real ale and real cider that is based in pubs and clubs.

“Over the coming months, as the practicalities become clearer, we shall link with publicans, brewers, and drinkers to decide the timing, format, and finer details of this.

“The committee have thought long and hard about this decision.

“We have weighed up the Government’s intended timeline for vaccinations and attendant relieving of legal restrictions.

“Additionally, we have considered the views of our members, people in the county and further afield, and of course, the needs of our pubs/clubs and breweries.”

Mr Dobson said, “at the forefront of our minds” the last year has been, “simply horrendous for anyone who loves pubs, real ale, real cider, and clubs.”

He said pubs, clubs and, consequently, breweries have endured lockdowns and restricted operations, backed only by what he described as, “the patchy support” offered by the Government and the “sheer difficulty” of keeping going and retaining hope.

“This ‘Covid reality’, which has come on top of a hard decade for the overall sector, has proven, of necessity, to be the main consideration.

“Our main priority as a branch is to support our pubs, our clubs, and our breweries, in what we hope will be a summer and autumn of recovery.

“A celebration based in pubs and clubs best serves this priority.”

He said branch members have been asked for suggestions of events they would like to have included in the celebration.