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 and oversee the set-up 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 became senile and unstable, 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 HIJACK 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 it was a big success so Attila committed to continuing and I said I would do my usual tasks for the event in future years. We chose to keep it at the Airport; we get round the lack of public transport by hiring a double-decker bus that shuttles festival-goers back and forth, and there is a good relationship between us and the bar-restaurant manager and other staff. After the 2003 Glastonwake event, we decided to call future festivals at the Airport by their original name of Glastonwick - in spite of the new location.

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 COPIED 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 dreaded to think what the quality might be like. As for the beers themselves, you're guaranteed an exotic range at Glastonwick 2006 at Shoreham Airport - but I wouldn't be so expectant for the Southwick range if they hold another attempt at a beer festival this year (aptly nicknamed "Glastonfake" by some).

And as for the music, in 2004/5 they 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).

And their logo was a spineless rip-off of our earlier Southwick chimney designs, painfully lame to look at; my description is that it was "an anthropomorphised phallic symbol that barely attained the status of 'eunuch'." I will spare showing you the actual design.

Anyway, £6 was 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. Glastonwick is £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 is free to festival-goers, that takes a chunk of the festival's budget. The same formula has applied to Glastonwick since 2003.

Whether you wish to risk attending any 'beer festival' that Southwick Community Centre attempts to put on this year is entirely up to you, though I hope to see all the Glastonwick regulars again (and hopefully some new faces) at the beginning of June for the real thing at Shoreham Airport.

Cheers!

Alex Hall
Co-founder, Glastonwick.




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


Updated 8 February 2006.