St George's Day is gaining traction as it follows in the footsteps of the superior St patrick's Day, which is celebrated on a larger scale. There is plenty that pubs can put on to make an attractive and tempting offer for St George's Day.
Setting the village alight
At his microbrewery, Hope Brewery in Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, Phil Evans has brewed Dragon Fire, a special chilli-flavoured 4.2% ABV amber ale, for a St George’s weekend beer festival at licensees Ray and Sandra Ellis’s Enterprise pub the Rising Sun, in the same village. The licensee will have 15 to 18 St George’s brews on sale at the weekend festival, which will see the pub and garden decorated with red-and-white flags, bar staff dress up, and a hog roast on offer at around £2.50 a pop. Mummers will present a comedy play, and traditional music and Morris dancing will feature. Funds for the local war memorial will be raised.
All night long
Party animals aged 18-35 have been invited to celebrate the dragon-slayer’s special day with the annual 1 Big Night Out St George’s Day Pub Crawl, organised by 1 Big Night Out. The event starts at the Verve nightclub near London’s Leicester Square and features access to five bars with late-night DJs. The full "crawl list" will be released at the event.
Local focus
Enterprise tenants Ian Wilson and Philip Rees are making the Queen Vic the focal point of St George’s Day celebrations in Rottingdean village, East Sussex. Following their local-cider Easter festival and a weekend ale festival at the popular food pub, they will honour the patron saint on Sunday 27 April with Morris and clog dancers and an internationally famous family of folk singers. Major corporate branding will be avoided to maintain the traditional feel, while a shove-ha’penny tournament is sponsored by microbrewery Long Man. Wilson and Rees hope to grow the St George’s Day event into a significant tourist attraction.
Medieval banquet
From 6pm on St George’s Day at the Tudor Close Pub & Kitchen, in Ferring, West Sussex, an evening of music and entertainment includes fundraising for Cancer Research UK. The £21 per-head ticket price includes dinner and a glass of ale or wine and a donation to the charity.