Crack open a cold one at Portchester beer festival

The Delme Arms Cams Hill, Portchester, is holding its third annual beer festival this bank holiday weekend, and festivities kicked off with a bang last night.

60 different craft ales and ciders from across the country are on offer for visitors to taste, with 10 local bands also performing throughout the weekend.

At the opening night last night, owner Neil Matthews told The News that this event should be the most successful one yet.

He explained: ‘The first beer festival that we held was more to push the brand, as I had just taken over the venue.

‘Following on from that, the second year was really great. We had a much wider selection of craft ales and significantly bigger crowds.

‘This year, we’ve introduced an array of craft ciders as well, because it never hurts to have a bit more variety on offer.

‘I’m really glad that we could have so many local artists come to perform as well – there’s certainly some incredible talent in the area.’

Visitors came in their droves on the opening night; some were coming to the pub for the first time – others, like insurance broker Steve King, 51, are regulars at the pub.

Steve said: ‘I have been coming to this pub since I was four years old. I can’t say enough about Neil, he’s done a fantastic job with the place.

‘I’ve had a few already so this might sound overly sentimental – but doing this beer festival has allowed him to bring the community closer together.’