The Winterfest Beer Festival will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, moving the event indoors after the cold temperatures experienced last year.

The festival, organised by the Salisbury and South Wiltshire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), will offer the chance to sample beers from across Wiltshire and the New Forest.

Beers on sale will include Old Smokey, a complex strong porter from Stonehenge Ales of Netheravon, Downton Brewery’s premium pale ale Downton Dream, a pale ale and a porter from Sixpenny Brewery, based just outside Cranborne, and Kick Start, described as “a very rich stout made with freshly roasted Columbian coffee beans” from Vibrant Forest, on the edge of the New Forest.

To celebrate its 25th year, the festival has commissioned a new logo by Salisbury artist Fred Fieber.

Salisbury Journal: Salisbury artist Fred Fieber has created a new logo for Winterfest’s 25th edition.Salisbury artist Fred Fieber has created a new logo for Winterfest’s 25th edition. (Image: Salisbury and South Wiltshire CAMRA)

Winterfest will begin on Friday, February 16 at 6.30pm to 11pm at the Guildhall and continue on Saturday, February 17 from 11am to 8pm. Tickets cost £9 and include a free glass and souvenir programme. Drinks will be sold in half pint and one-third of a pint measures and card-carrying CAMRA members get half a pint free.

Salisbury and South Wiltshire said the 2023 event sold out in advance, so anyone wishing to attend the 2024 festival has been advised to purchase tickets in advance on the organisation’s website.

Andrew Hesketh, festivals co-ordinator for the Salisbury & South Wiltshire CAMRA, said: “After the cold weather experienced last year, I am sure that everybody will all be pleased to hear that the event is going to be wholly indoors and in the warm.

“Winterfest XXV will continue the tradition of a comfortable, conversation-led festival and, of course, an excellent range of real ales and ciders.”