Harrogate Beer Week to celebrate town's rise as a craft beer capital

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The brainchild of local beer communications specialist Rachel Auty who has secured backing from Harrogate BID to help bring the idea to fruition, the new event will involve a cross-section of the town’s burgeoning independent beer scene.

Rachel said: “This brand new event will be a spotlight on the very best of what’s on offer in Harrogate and will be created and delivered by people who actually live and work here, and know the town.

“It’s not a beer festival in the traditional sense. It’s intended to bring something new to the town, disrupting the norms of the usual ‘brand Harrogate’ and embracing a new perspective on what Harrogate has to offer.”

Running from September 20-26, a programme of special events will be hosted at bars, brewery taps, and eateries across Harrogate.

The line-up includes brewery tours at Turning Point independent brewery, a guided beer tasting of Harrogate beer by Beer Sommelier Annabel Smith at Cold Bath Clubhouse, the launch of a new book ‘Modern British Beer’ by beer writer Matthew Curtis at Roosters Brewery Taproom and bar tours across the town by Harrogate Beer Tour.

Harrogate BID Manager Matthew Chapman said: “We’re really excited to be supporting September’s Harrogate Beer Week, particularly as it will involve a host of local bars and pubs. It will be a fantastic opportunity for beer lovers to have a pint or two in different venues, which as an organisation dedicated to driving footfall into all parts of the town centre appealed to us.”

Rachel Auty, who runs her own Harrogate-based marketing and events company, Raucous Agency, said the strength of Harrogate’s beer community merited the new festival.

Rachel said: “I’ve watched the Harrogate beer scene flourish over the last eight years and I believe we are ready to step up and show off a bit. There’s no reason why Harrogate can’t stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the bigger beer destinations like Leeds and Sheffield.”

More information at www.harrogatebeerweek.co.uk

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