Guide to Gateshead beer festival as it prepares for spring bank holiday return

While it hasn't felt much like spring lately, a beer and music festival in Gateshead is all set to give a warm welcome to guests - whatever the weather - at its annual bank holiday party.

The volunteer-run spring festival at Gateshead Rugby Club in Low Fell will get under way on Friday, May 3 and over its three-day run pop-ups and bars will be busy serving up an array of food and drinks against a backdrop of non-stop music. The giant marquee will be back in the club grounds, housing the likes of spirit, cider and cocktail bars as well as the main stage for bands which will include former festival favourites The mOObs and The Good Souls.

The clubhouse itself - where the main beer bar will be set up alongside the usual bar - will provide more cover from the weather, if needed, but if the sun makes an appearance then the club's large field no doubt will be packed with festival-goers. Tickets are still available for all days for the festival - see here.

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Here's a guide to the community event's full May 3-5 programme showing what will be happening and when. For our guide to music festivals across the North East this year see here.

Gateshead Beer & Music Festival

Drinks

The main festival bar will be set up inside the clubhouse - which itself has two bars - and the volunteer staff will be serving up a vast range of fine ales. There also will be a Cider Bar, stocked with a nationwide selection, and Cava Bar alongside bars serving premium lagers, vodka, gin, prosecco and cocktails.

Food

A new wood-fired pizza oven will be serving hand-made pizzas while big paella pans will be cooking up meat and vegetarian versions of the dish. Other options will be 'premium' doner kebabs; hotdogs and chips plus vegetarian and gluten-free wraps. For a sweet treat, there will be made-to-order crepes. Festival-goers are also welcome to take along picnics and there are tables available to use - if you're quick enough to bag one - in the marquee.

Music

The three-day music line-up will see the return of some of the musicians who have proved the most popular at the festival over the years as well as some newcomers. This year, besides the main stage in the marquee, there will be an extra performance area in the bar hall. Here are acts to watch out for.

Friday, May 3 - South Shields party band Two Metres Apart were a hit at last year's festival and will be back with another serving of dance-along party anthems.

Lock N Load - this local four-piece rock band will be making a Gateshead debut with covers of hits by such rock giants as Queen; AC/DC; Led Zeppelin; Journey; Whitesnake and Bon Jovi.

Voice of the Town - local choirs will perform a mix of songs - soul and funk, gospel, pop, rock, dance and R'n'B.

C-SaW - a five-piece electric band playing classic rock from the seventies and eighties .

Saturday, May 4 - the six members of North East cover band The Good Souls, lovers of nineties indie music, will mix it up with a diverse range of hits by the likes of The Killers; Erasure; Oasis; Bruno Mars; The Stone Roses and Rhianna.

The Heist - this local five-piece band only formed last year but draw from years of individual experience to capture indie, punk and rock'n'roll sounds of the nineties to 2000s.

Squeeker - expect a musical trip down memory lane as this cover band travel back to the days of all sorts and such biggies as The Rolling Stones, TRex, The Kinks, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles, Billy Ocean, ABBA and Bay City Rollers.

Discography - eight musicians celebrating the high energy disco floor-fillers of New York's famous Studio 54. And that can be anything from Chic and Nile Rodgers to the Bee Gees and Diana Ross.

Helter Skelter - a North East-based band covering The Beatles

Sunday, May 5 - The mOObs, who have headlined at the festival several times, will be back again and the popular six will conjure up a mix of modern pop, rock and indie classics in tribute to artists such as U2; The Killers; The Foo Fighters; Queen and Sam Fender.

Beyond Madness - prepare to enjoy a range of ska classics

The Gaslighters - making a Gateshead debut, his band will serve up an eighties classics set featuring the likes of Duran Duran; Spandau Ballet; Simple Minds; ELO and OMD.

Mike Memphis - billed as 'the North East’s very own Elvis', the popular tribute artist will be joined this time by his 'Memphis mafia band' and as 'The Rock King', he'll be focusing upon Elvis' 1968 comeback and through his jumpsuit era.

The Jitters - from North Yorkshire, this band - bringing rockabilly to Gateshead - are festival favourites.

Kirsty Forster Project - described as small in size but big in sound, this musical trio like to adapt and re-interpret favourite soul, pop and funk songs in their own style.

Bar Hall performances

Expect sets from Taylor, Fletcher & Crown; Dave Lynas; Low Fell Ukes; Dead Skunk Skiffle; Love over Gold; George Welch & Christine Jeans and Micky and Angela from festival favourites Groovetrain.

Tickets

Tickets can be bought direct from Gateshead Rugby Club or else online here. It is currently advertising a limited number of early bird tickets for Friday's session available online for £10. The usual price is £14.

A day ticket for the Saturday or Sunday is £18 and a joint ticket is available for £45.

Anything else?

Since 2019, the launch day of the festival has hosted the regional leg of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) competition, featuring around 120 of top beers from breweries across the North East and Yorkshire., and this year it will be back, with guest judges making another pick, from 2024's selection of brews from Berwick to Sheffield. The winners will go on to compete for prizes at the national BeerX competition.

The festival always supports charities and this year it will be raising money for three good causes, to be announced, so festival-goers are asked to contribute their spare change over the three-day run.