Beer, Cider & Gin Festival

Beer, Cider & Gin Festival

The true rail ale experience

Join us for a celebration of real ales, ciders and speciality gins along the line, where you can travel between stations by train and sample some truly unique guest beers across the railway. 

The festival kicks off midday on Thursday at Loughborough, with diesel trains, draught ales and snacks to get the weekend started. The Loughborough bar will also be open from 15:00.

Friday and Saturday see over 80 different beers, 30 ciders and a selection of spirits available across the line, with live music from local bands and steam and diesel trains running all day – and late into the night – for a proper rail ale experience.

On Sunday, wind down with a lazy pint as all four bars stay open into the afternoon – the perfect way to round off the weekend.

A wide range of tickets are available for this event, including our popular 2, 3 and 4 day tickets for those wishing to enjoy more than 1 day of the festival. Group discounts are also available by enquiry, to the booking office, for groups of 10 or more.

The event itself is free to attend, but tickets are required for travel on the trains. Come along and enjoy the perfect combination of heritage trains, great drinks, and live entertainment.

GCR Home Fleet

No. 78019

Type

BR Standard 2

Designer

R. A. Riddles

Configuration

2-6-0

Class 37 – D6700

Power Output

Rated 1,750 bhp

Engine

English Electric 12CSVT V12 diesel

Max Speed

90 mph (80 mph on some bogie variants)

No. 73156

Type

BR Standard 5MT

Designer

R. A. Riddles

Configuration

4-6-0

Class 33 – D6535

Power Output

1,550 bhp (1,215 bhp at rail)

Engine

Sulzer 8LDA28

Max Speed

85 mph

Additional Information

Event Sponsors

  • Charnwood Brewery
  • Locomotive Maintenance Services

Live Music

Friday –

Luke BP (Quorn Main Marquee) – 3pm – 5:30pm

Not Now Cato (Quorn Main Marquee) – 7:30pm – 10:30pm

Megan Iris (Rothley C&W Shed) – 4pm – 7:00pm

Saturday –

Ruth Chomik (Quorn Main Marquee) – 12:15pm – 2:15pm

Embers Duo (Quorn Main Marquee) – 3:45pm – 5:45pm

The Waltzing Bumble Bees (Quorn Main Marquee) – 8:00pm – 10:30pm

Java Duke (Rothley C&W Shed) – 2:30pm – 4:30pm

Jenny Wren (Rothley C&W Shed) – 6:15pm – 8:15pm

Food Stalls

Thursday:
English Picnic onboard the B set – Cobs, sausage rolls and light refreshments
Friday:
English Picnic onboard the B set – Cobs, sausage rolls and light refreshments
GCR Burgers – Loughborough
Severs Pizza – Quorn
Samosa Wallah – Quorn
The Stuffed Spud – Rothley
Saturday:
English Picnic onboard the B set – Cobs, sausage rolls and light refreshments
GCR Burgers – Loughborough
Severs Pizza – Quorn
Phayao Thai food truck – Quorn
Samosa Wallah – Quorn
The Stuffed Spud – Rothley
Sunday:
English Picnic onboard the B set – Cobs, sausage rolls and light refreshments

Butler Henderson Cafe

Our cosy Butler Henderson Café at Quorn & Woodhouse Yard will be open, serving everything from full English breakfast, hot and cold drinks to light bites and snacks!

What To Expect Each Day

Thursday

Our event kicks off this year with a diesel running day on the Thursday. This offers 6 round trips with 2 of our heritage diesel locomotives in action. Within the train will be our refreshment car featuring hand pulled real ales, soft drinks and other light refreshments. The Loughborough platform bar will also be open from 12 noon with 30 cask beers and 10 ciders available to choose from.

Please note that only the Loughborough Bar will be open on Thursday.

Friday

Heritage steam and diesel locomotives will be running throughout the day and late into the evening getting you everywhere you need to be! There will be live music in the marquee at Quorn, food stalls for when you feel hungry and spread across the railway will be a great selection of over 80 cask ales, 30 ciders and a decent selection of gins and spirits

Saturday

Following on from the success of last year, we have extra music scheduled throughout on Saturday and a change of food stalls at Quorn offering plenty of variety across the weekend. There is live music and trains running late into the evening so why not make a full day of it!

Sunday

Wrap up the weekend with a few lazy drinks and a relaxing ride through the Leicestershire countryside. We always have a great selection of beers and ciders left over on Sunday so join us for the last hurrah of the Beer, Cider & Gin Festival!

Ticket Information

When purchasing a runabout ticket, you will have access to travel on all our standard passenger trains throughout the day, allowing you to hop on and off to explore all our historic stations.

Beer, Cider & Gin Festival

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Loughborough Central

Quorn & Woodhouse

Rothley Station

Leicester North