By Karen Evans

Last updated at 11:20, Thursday, 04 October 2012

Workington second beer festival is expected to attract more than 1,000 people to the town.

The three-day Oktoberfest will run from Thursday, October 18 to Saturday, October 20 at the Carnegie Theatre from 6pm to midnight each night.

New additions to the festival this year are a Thursday night session and an afternoon session on the Saturday, which will run from noon to 5pm.

The festival was the brainchild of Workington Rotary Club.

John Mather, the club’s immediate past president, said he hoped this year’s festival, sponsored by Theakston and 58 local businesses, would raise around £5,000 for local charities.

Mr Mather said: “We decided to take the Sunday session off this year because it was the quietest of the sessions last year. From the feedback we had we decided it would be sensible to replace it with an afternoon session on Saturday because most people don’t want to come out if they have to get up for work on a Monday morning.

“I was president last year and my ambition was to do something special. I’d worked in the brewery and pub industry all my life and had good contacts at Theakston so it seemed like a great idea and we had a brilliant response last year raising £3,500.

“We have dozens of volunteers on board this year from Workington Derwent Rotary Club, Workington Inner Wheel, Cockermouth Round Table and West Cumbria’s branch of CAMRA.”

First published at 11:26, Thursday, 04 October 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk