Jane's Midlife Journey

The annual Poole Beer Festival is organised by East Dorset CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) and last year notched up its 25th anniversary. The festival takes place at St Adhelm’s Centre in Branksome, just 3 miles west of Bournemouth, on the main road to Poole (A35).

How to get to Poole Beer Festival

It would, theoretically, be an easy place to drive to. But who drives to a beer festival?

By Bus

The m1/m2 buses, plus numbers 16 and 18, stop right outside the centre at Tesco. This is particularly convenient at the end of the night, with not too far to stagger to get home. Branksome Station is a 5 minute walk away.

Times

The festival takes place over a weekend at the end of October/beginning of November (usually the end of half term) over four sessions. The timings for 2025 were:

• Friday 31st October (11 am – 3.30 pm)
• Friday 31st October (6.30 pm – 11 pm)
• Saturday 1st November (11 am – 3.30 pm)
• Saturday 1st November (6.30 pm – 11 pm)

2026 dates are yet to be announced, but it will probably be on Friday 30th October and Saturday 31st October.

Price

Tickets costs £10. This gets you entry to the event, a souvenir glass, a festival guide plus two half pint beer tokens. On Saturday evening, it also includes live music. (If you’re a CAMRA member, you receive an additional two beer tokens.) If you want more tokens, these can be purchased for £2.50 each.

Beers

The array of beer is pretty impressive, boasting a total of 94 cask ales, plus a selection of bottles, cans and keg beers to choose from. There are detailed descriptions of all the beers in the guide. More adventurous options include a tiramisu porter, rhubarb ale and chocolate orange stout. If you’re not sure, servers are happy to let you try before you choose.

Ciders

If, like me, you’re not a huge real ale fan, there’s also a large selection of cider and perry to tempt you. This year’s menu included a selection of 19. I opted for Tangerine Dream (tangerine cider with a hint of spice) and Moustache Mango Cider. Both very nice, but extremely sweet – a bit like a dessert in a glass.

Last year, visiting on a Saturday evening meant supplies were running low. I perused the menu and opted for a Pornstar Martini cider, marmalade cider and salted caramel cider. Unfortunately, none of my choices were available and I was give the option of chilli & pear cider (tastes as bad as it sounds) and cranberry & lime cider (cystitis flashbacks). So this year, we opted for a Friday visit and a full selection of drinks.

Entertainment

Once you have your drinks, you can stand in the main hall, or go out the back where there is a marquee. If you get lucky, you might even find a seat.

In the marquee, there is a tombola with beer themed prizes and a stall where you can ‘Meet the Brewer‘, where local brewers are on hand to tell you more about their wares. There’s also a raffle with proceeds going to a local charity.

You can also vote for your Beer of the Festival. Once alcohol had been imbibed, we found it hilarious to complete our slips for our first, second and third choices of drinks, none of which we had actually drunk because they had run out. Well, it was funny at the time…

According to the programme; “If you are lucky enough to have Saturday evening tickets, you have the chance to experience the one and only one man band extraordinaire that is Andy Smooth.” That’s some build up! Turns out Andy Smooth has a guitar and sings covers. But he sings them well.

Food

There is a stall selling hot food (mainly hot dogs), snacks and soft drinks. However, the venue is next door to Tesco, so a lot of people opt to come prepared with a selection of snacks.

Thing to Note

• The event tends to sell out, so it’s advisable to to purchase tickets well in advance. Tickets usually go on sale on 1 September and can be obtained from the website or from various local independent pubs.
• It does get very busy – if you want a seat, you will need to arrive early.
• By Saturday evening, the choice starts to dwindle as barrels run out.

I rounded off my evening by committing a cardinal real ale lover’s sin and purchased a bottle of lager, which went into my souvenir glass so I didn’t look like a saddo drinking lager at a real ale festival.

Then it’s time to catch the bus back to Bournemouth. Always a fun experience with lots of other people at the bus stop, none of them particularly sober, which makes the journey home all the more entertaining. Overall, always a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

• Updated November 2025

I hope you found this information useful. For more inspiration on things to do in and around Bournemouth, check out my 101 Things to do in Bournemouth here.