THE SOUTHWICK BEER FESTIVAL SCANDAL

A brief history of Glastonwick and why the event moved to Shoreham...

BEGINNINGS
Glastonwick was the brainchild of Southwick poet-musician Attila the Stockbroker in the Spring of 1996. At that time, he was holding monthly gigs at Southwick Community Centre bringing in talented musicians from all over the U.K. and beyond. So, the idea to combine a weekend-long version of his gigs there with a beer festival was born. The first one went ahead with 25 casks plus cider and perry - it was immensely popular and the quantities ordered proved to be insufficient. Eight more casks were hurriedly obtained from the cellar of The Evening Star brewpub, Brighton, and taken over in the early hours of Saturday morning. Glastonwick was born and enjoyed growth year after year; it had instantly become an event with a cult following.

SET-UP AND ARRANGEMENTS
Being an avid real ale fan but not having any formal training in the trade, Attila needed someone skilled to source good, unusual, microbrewed beers and to set up and keep the beers in prime condition. That's where I come in as I was keeping the cellar at The Evening Star to the highest standard. And ever since, I have done the honours for Glastonwick - even though I emigrated to America in 1999, I still fly back for the festival and still do the ordering every year.

The third member of the original team was Roy Chuter, who in 1996 was running Attila's mailing list and again was an avid real ale fan. There was a symbiotic relationship between the three of us and the Committee of the Community Centre which was fine at first but grew old and eventually died. Initially, and as the Centre is a 'charity', we agreed to volunteer our time as long as the profits would go to improving the Centre complex and its equipment - investing for bigger and better events in the future. At first hiccups (usually big ones) like them buying a theatre PA instead of a music PA - no good for the bands that Attila was putting on there each month. Then inaction and whinges often came when something was suggested. Then interference with our duties and decisions in many ways, such as fixing unfairly high entrance prices without consulting us first. I actually quit once after a bitching email was being circulated, but thankfully I was apologised to and I duly returned.

Then the big one, on 5th December 2002 the Argus ran a piece saying it was over; the decision had been made to no longer host the event (in spite of it being their best money maker by far). The reason? "Difficult to staff". Eh? What? It was Roy's duty to sign up volunteers for the bar, which he did admirably each summer. The Centre in real life only provided staff for the box office and kitchen - and we could have helped there if they had asked. So much for their excuse.

Above and below left: © The Argus, permission granted for reproduction here.
Below right: © Shoreham Herald, permission granted for reproduction here.

THE GREAT GLASTONWICK KIDNAP ATTEMPT
In 2003, we organised 'Glastonwake' at Shoreham Airport - a fun weekend in the style of Glastonwick with lots of real ales and talented acts. Whether that would be a one-off or regular event was undecided at that point, but later on Attila committed to continuing and I said I would do my usual tasks for the event. We chose to keep it at the Airport; although less accessable and taking into account we are not able to have music in the daytime due to the set-up, at least there is a good relationship between us and the bar-restaurant manager and other staff.

Then on 18th September 2003, The Shoreham Herald printed a factually inaccurate and very misleading news article (NOT the fault of the paper) claiming that Glastonwick is "under new management" - see below.

The errant report:

Above: © Shoreham Herald, permission granted for reproduction here.

POWER, CORRUPTION AND LIES
I was fuming at being lied to previously: if they truly had staff shortages on previous occasions with our volunteers there, how come that's now not an even bigger factor now they are on their own? I was also annoyed at them unacceptably saying that their planned event would be the same as ours but "under new management" - implying that ours is history when it is alive and well in Shoreham. We founded the festival, Southwick Community Centre should only be described as the initial venue of our choice. Wondering what sort of mess any attempt of theirs at holding a festival would result in, and anxious to prevent the wrong message getting out, I quickly sent The Herald a letter putting the facts straight. See below:

Above: © Shoreham Herald, permission granted for reproduction here.

THE CLONED AND THE REAL
Thankfully, it was printed a few days later on page 2 in a prominent place. So, knowing nobody there has the required skills to look after beer (the main organiser I know to be teetotal!), I dread to think what the quality might be like. As for the beers themselves, you're guaranteed an exotic range at Glastonwick 2004 at Shoreham Airport - but I wouldn't be so expectant for the Southwick range. And as for the music, I heard they've asked just about every local musician on the Brighton area pub circuit and not ventured any further to bring in new acts to the area (source: Shoreham Herald, 18 September 2003 - see above).

£6 is evidently the quoted session price, according to the report in The Shoreham Herald. £6 to drink (presumably) boring beers and listen to the same musicians you probably would have seen recently seems somewhat extortionate to me, even if you do get a glass thrown in. Glastonwake 2003 (our festival) was £5 - and for that you got to see some fabulous acts from far and wide (they have to be paid, don't forget) and had a choice of countless exotic and rare beers kept in good condition. Plus the shuttle bus was free to festival-goers, that took a chunk of the festival's budget. The same formula should apply to Glastonwick 2004, again at Shoreham Airport.

So, unsurprisingly, I will not be attending their event at Southwick. Whether you wish to go there or not is entirely up to you, though I hope to see all the Glastonwick regulars again (and hopefully some new faces) at the end of May for the real thing at Shoreham Airport.

Cheers!

Alex Hall
Co-founder, Glastonwick.

[GLASTONWICK 2004 MAIN PAGE]

 Grateful thanks to the editorial teams of The Shoreham Herald and The Argus for granting us permission to reproduce the above news articles.