Well, the National Winter Ales Festival duly opened tonight, er, last night now since it's gone midnight. All seems to have gone according to plan - anything that didn't go according to plan, I've not heard about yet, but then I was on glasses all night.
My impression was that there is more space available, partly because of the layout (bars against the side walls) and partly because there is a lot of space outside the hall where people can drink or eat or whatever. However, it would certainly be an improvement if we could get the lower hall as well as the main hall in future years.
One downside for many people will be the limited food on offer: basically sandwiches and pies. This is beyond the control of the organisers and is really down to the hall's owners (the Co-op). There isn't much available round about either, not after about 6 p.m. at any rate, so anyone planning to visit might want to think about bringing some snap with them.
The judging for the Champion Winter Beer of Britain takes place in the morning and results will be announced later on during Thursday.