More than 4,000 people descended on the rugby club at the weekend for the 24th Macclesfield Beer Festival.
The event, which is organised by Macclesfield Round Table with the support of CAMRA, is run entirely by volunteers in aid of charity.
And with more than 17,000 pints supped and the new ‘gin bar’ a roaring success, the team have hailed this year’s event as one of the best ever.
Ben Whitely, who is on the organising committee, said: “The 24th Macclesfield Charity Beer Festival was a huge success and we’re thrilled that everyone had a fantastic time while raising funds for Space4Autism.
“When the beer festival was set up 24 years ago it was with the sole aim of raising money for charity.
“The fundraising is at the heart of what we do, there’s no profit for us. It’s a great feeling to see everyone having a great time, and enjoying themselves, and knowing there is going to be this huge sum for charity at the end of it.”
He added: “We haven’t got the fundraising total yet, but we think we are on target to equal last year if not beat it, which is great.”
The festival, which is held at Macclesfield Rugby Club, has raised more than £200,000 for charity since it was first set up. This year’s total will be donated to Space4Austims in Macclesfield charity which supports families living with autism.
Ben added: “The weather was great, it was a nice and sunny, and everyone was in high spirits.
“The Saturday evening especially was better than usual. Sometimes it’s the quieter night of the two, but it was very, very busy, which was fantastic. The gin bar was the big success of the night.
“The Chinese Marbles - the headliners on the Saturday night - were excellent, and we had the Black Cat Blues band on the Saturday afternoon who were a big hit as well.” Ben added that the popular beers at the event were the Beartown’s Creme Bearlee beer, and Restless Brett, a special brew from Macclesfield’s RedWillow brewery.
He added: “We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone that made the event possible, including our wonderful sponsors, Macclesfield Round Table, CAMRA and most of all the huge number of volunteers that gave up their weekend to work behind the bar - and many of them volunteered all weekend - we really couldn’t have done it without you!”
