Here comes summer...

This coming weekend marks the pagan Beltane holiday and is their way of celebrating the arrival of summer.

(Un)surprisingly enough, it is also a time of year when we have chosen to celebrate every year, firstly due it (almost) coinciding with the birthdays of my Dad and my old schoolmate Rob, but secondly because it is the time of the Annual Cleethorpes Beer Festival.

It used to be hosted by CAMRA until a few years ago, before they stopped for a while, changed venue and then deferred the event to September. Fortunately, the Grimsby & Cleethorpes Lions Club took the reigns and started holding their own beer festival every May Day weekend instead.

This year - who knows? It seems to be shrouded in mystery. With only two days to go before the traditional Friday opening, I have yet to see anything advertised. Relentless in my pursuits however, I have discovered after much surfing that it is actually scheduled for Friday 29th to Sunday 1st, with over 50 beers and ciders and a jazz band each evening. The North East Lincs Council website claims "this is one not to be missed" so perhaps it might have helped if they had advertised it a bit more widely and confirmed some opening times on their site, as we usually prefer to attend the Saturday afternoon sessions.

I am full of praise for the Lions Club and commend their efforts to keep the tradition alive, but am equally unsurprised at the NELC who are famous in local parts for their ability to organise a piss up...