About Helperby Beer Festival

The story of the Helperby Beer Festival and now the Helperby & Brafferton Recreational Trust, starts like any good story, with an idea… in a pub. In 2014, 5 young dads (who are not so young anymore) decided to tackle the problem of a lack of a suitable children’s play area in the village. Coupled with a love of beer the obvious fund-raising event was a beer festival. So, with a lot of enthusiasm, a can-do attitude and a touch of naivety, plans for the 2015 beer festival got underway. No one knew if it would work, could we do it, would people come and where and how would we actually build a playground? Hosting an event, it turns out, costs an absolute fortune. It is all consuming and takes more time than we could possibly have imagined. Starting from zero we begged, borrowed, pulled in favours, lent on friends to help and our families rarely saw us. 2015, although held together with gaffer tape, wet towels and a lot of good luck was a tremendous success! People came, people drank, people danced.. people drank some more. The biggest challenge we were ever going to face was actually building the playground; they don’t come cheap and neither does the land to put them on. In 2018 we conducted a village wide survey to gauge thoughts and opinions – the response was overwhelmingly positive and provided much food for thought. It became apparent that just as the beer festival had grown in size so must our plans. If we were creating an asset for the village then a set of swings and a slide wouldn’t cut it – our plans had to evolve as did our organisational structure. Our initial plans for a playground were too limited and not fully inclusive. The revised vision now includes a sensory space, adventure trail, multi game ball pen and recreational space – an area for all residents regardless of age of physical ability and a tangible community asset. All of which would need a larger site. On the eve of the festival in 2022 we received confirmation that, subject to final legal caveats, we had been granted permission to take over the lease and apply for a change of use on a plot of land in the village. The land is approximately 1.6 acres in size, bordered by the Cricket pitch to the east and Raghill Lane to the south. This was made possible by Sir Anthony and Lady Harriet Milnes-Coates who have our sincere thanks for their generosity and philanthropy.