23rd Bent and Bongs Beer Bash

This festival, run by the Bent and Bongs Charitable Trust in association with Wigan CAMRA, takes place in Formby Hall in Atherton.  I always go on the Saturday, and the queue snakes down around the side of the building and the full length of the car park beyond.  Looking at the size of the building and the length of the queue, you'd be forgiven for assuming you won't get in.  But Formby Hall must have been built using Time Lord technology because you do get in, and it doesn't take too long either, as they have an efficient door operation that some other festivals should learn from.

There's always a good range of beers, and the festival has an extremely friendly atmosphere.  It's about two thirds of a mile from Atherton railway station, which itself is about a 50 minute train ride from Southport.  It runs from Thursday 26 to Saturday 28 January and is open on Thursday and Friday evenings and all day Saturday - full details from the festival website.