Tuesday July 14: Put on your Proud of Pubs event
Every day it seems there are new things going on in pubs up and down the country.
The response of many pubs in the UK to the recession has been to move into new areas, and try new things.
And Proud of Pubs Week is the perfect time to do that - to use the week as a hook to pull in new customers, and try something new.
A question posed to pub companies in the run-up to Proud of Pubs Week on how many different things pubs are doing these days brought some surprising responses.
From the conventional - beer festivals and pub quizzes - to the slightly more off-the-wall - such as hosting murder mystery nights and fortune-telling evenings - a huge number of ideas came forward.
And each one was primed to pull in more customers and drive new footfall. Exactly the sort of messages that Proud of Pubs Week is seeking to promote.
Licensees Mark Jackson and Sarah Atkins at Everards pub the Royal Oak in Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire are certainly creative when it comes to staging events in their pub.
And so it was that as the Britain's Got Talent TV show reached its climax in May, the pub was running a rival contest for locals: Kirby's Got Talent.
After flushing out a number of hidden singing talents in the village, the event put on a great show - and raised £1,625 to help fund a young equestrian team due to compete in the Leicester Special Olympics at the end of July.
Sarah said: "We try and come up with ideas that our regulars will support and which will engage as many members of the local community as possible."
But entertainment doesn't have to blasted out at full volume, as licensees Paul Barden and Margaret Bridle at the Guide Dog in Southampton will prove in Proud of Pubs Week.
The pair are planning a Meet the beekeeper evening alongside a Meet the brewer evening during the week, with both expected to create quite an interest among locals.
"One of our regular customers keeps bees and has even put hives into other people's houses. He makes his own honey which we sell in here," says Margaret
"Several people said why don't you get him to come in and talk about it. So we have and we've combined it with a visit from the Flower Pots Brewery at Cheriton."
Entertainment doesn't have to be complicated - you could make a virtue of some of the most traditional pub games of all in Proud of Pubs Week: darts, dominoes, pool and shuffleboard.
Or you could go as far as John Bellinger, licensee of the Bell Inn in Banbury, Oxfordshire, who is planning a different event every night of the week, including a bingo night, a ladies pamper night and a wine and cheese party.
But whatever you do, do something! Proud of Pubs Week is your week - and your chance to put on a real show.
Six ideas for a fun evening in Proud of Pubs Week
Dinner dances
Murder Mystery nights
Bingo sessions
Fortune-telling evenings
Bungee jumping
Hosting an arts festival
