UK Music Festivals - Royal Windsor Beer & Jazz Festival

A Typical Beer Festival with a Jazz Festival Added On

• What: Five days of cool Jazz and warm beer beside the Thames
• When: Mid August
• Where: Alexandra Gardens, Barry Avenue, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 3HY
• Contact: +44 (0)20 8241 9818 or email info@pwrevents.com
• Admission: Before and after 5 p.m prices, £7 and £12.50. Discounts for students over 18, seniors and CAMRA members. Official Festival Glass £3, refundable
• Website

This is a typical British beer festival, featuring a variety of beers, real ales and other summery British drinks, like Pimms, wine, cocktails and soft drinks.

The festival regularly features an enormous selection of beers of various strengths and styles, from pale ale to stout and including specialist bottled beers. There is also soul food, fish and chips and other food available to soak up the alcohol.

How it Works

You buy a glass on entry which you can return for a refund or keep as a souvenir. No one under 18 is admitted in the evening. Accompanied children under 18 are admitted during the day but are not served alcohol. The festival operates what is known as the Challenge25 policy. Anyone who is over 18 but who looks, in the opinion of the servers, under 25, can be asked to show proof of age to purchase alcohol.

And All That Jazz

What sets the Royal Windsor Beer Festival apart is the addition of an excellent line-up of jazz bands. In 2009, for example, the festival was set to feature The James Taylor Quartet (the Hammond Organ jazz instrumentalist, not the singer songwriter), The Chicago Blues Brothers and London-based Brazilian Bossa Nova singer Jandira Silva. Make sure to visit the official website. It takes forever to load but the wait is worth it as all the bands have submitted generous music clips.