How A Love of Gin Made a Festival
A small village in East Yorkshire may seem an unlikely spot for a gin festival, but Bubwith isn’t your average village – it’s full of gin lovers!
The higher-than-average concentration of people who enjoy the vogueish drink is all down to the Jug and Bottle – a destination deli and off license at the heart of village life. Not only do the locals enjoy a wide selection of unusual and small batch gins thanks to the well-stocked ‘Jug’, but they are also well-educated about the history and types of gin thanks to a regular small gin tasting events and popular monthly pop-up bars.
All of this is down to Jug and Bottle owner and gin-enthusiast Louise Smith who picked up on the emerging trend for new gins early on and started dedicating more and more shelf space to it as it grew in popularity. She now stocks over 100 varieties, many of them from Yorkshire, and is always on the lookout for new and interesting varieties to share with her large group of local gin enthusiasts.
It was after attending several large gin festivals that Louise decided that she wanted to do her own festival, right at home in Bubwith. She says “The larger festivals have lost their appeal. The last one I went to didn’t have great gins, lacked atmosphere and didn’t really learn much from the event. I came away very disappointed. I want this festival to be a journey of discovery. It will be a smaller venue, great atmosphere, a bit quirky and plenty of new gins to the market, both in brands and in expressions. Ultimately I want people to come and discover their favourite new gin!”
After enlisting the help and support of her network of gin-loving friends, Louise’s dream of her own gin festival is becoming a reality, with Bubwith’s first Gin Festival taking place in March. And it’s shaping up to be a great night for gin lovers.
The Jug and Bottle Gin Festival will be warm and intimate and defiantly Yorkshire! There will be 30 gins, carefully chosen to showcase popular trends and new introductions to the market. Tickets include a welcome G&T, hot food, a commemorative glass and live music from local recording artist Helen Chambers. Hooting Owl from Barmby Moor and Sing Gin from Kettlesing will be there talking about their Yorkshire gins and providing samples to try. There will also be the new 4 seasons gins from Rock Rose.
One might argue that gin is a kind of social glue in Bubwith – and anything that brings people together and gets them talking has got to be a good thing!
Bubwith Gin Festival | Saturday 23rd March | 7.30pm | The Bubwith Centre
Tickets from The Jug & Bottle or online at www.jugandbottle.co.uk/events
For more info:
Louise Smith | e: info@jugandbottle.co.uk | m: 07776 095143