suds with buds: all you need to know

We’re looking forward to welcoming you to Suds With Buds on Saturday and wanted to share the following info with you ahead of you joining us, which we hope you’ll find useful. With over 700 people joining us for the festival, please take five minutes to read the following, some of which is important for you to know before arriving.

Firstly, most of the event will be taking place inside, but you might want to keep an eye on the ever changing weather forecast, as most of the street food will be located outside, along with the live music stage in the beer garden.

Dogs & Children

In case you may have missed it, as mentioned on our website and within the info on the web page where you’ll have purchased your ticket, Suds With Buds is not an event open to dogs or anyone under the age of 18.

Code of Conduct

When purchasing your ticket you agreed to accept the event Code of Conduct. Here’s a brief reminder of what that covers:

• We will not tolerate any type of harassment, bullying or assault based on, but not exclusive to gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, disability, body size or physical appearance.

• Attendees engaging in conversations that involve derogatory comments or words and phrases that we feel are discriminatory, or that make other attendees, volunteers or staff uncomfortable, will be warned or, at the discretion of the management, may be asked to leave.
• The overwhelming majority of people who regularly join us at the Taproom are lovely, lovely people and we expect the same to be true for Suds With Buds, however, please keep the above in mind and, in short, don’t be a dick!

The Weather

We’ve been keeping a close eye on the forecast over the past few days. It’s chopped and changed every time we’ve looked, so your guess is as good as ours at this stage. All of our fingers are crossed for a dry day, but please keep in mind that about 40% of the site (the Brewery Yard and Beer Garden) is outside. Here’s hoping waterproofs won’t be needed, but it’s proving impossible to second guess which way the weather will go on Saturday. (Please be dry!🤞)

What To Expect Upon Arrival

Firstly, there might be a queue! Suds With Buds is the biggest event we put on and we’re anticipating that there’ll be a lot of people wanting to get cracking with sampling all the amazing beer, food and music we’ve got lined up for you. We’ll have plenty of people ready to help getting everyone through the gate as quickly and effectively as possible, but the following will no doubt cause a small delay for everyone upon arrival:

• Ticket scanning – Please make sure you bring your ticket with you, as we’ll need to scan the QR code within it.
• Challenge 25 – Anyone fortunate enough to look under 25 will be asked to provide ID, so please keep that in mind and make sure you have yours to hand, if required
• Wristbands – Once you’ve been scanned in, a member of the event team will need to bob a wristband on your wrist of choice, this will let staff and the breweries pouring that proof ID has been checked, where applicable. Please keep it on on your wrist until the festivals’ over. No wristband, no service.
• Bag search – If you need to bring a bag with you, please note that we’d like to take a quick peak inside on you way in so we can make sure there’s nothing in it that we may ask you to jettison or you’ll risk not being allowed in:
• Water – Feel free to bring an empty bottle with you to fill up at one of the many water stations onsite, but please don’t bring any water with you, as we’ll only ask that you pour it away at the gate. This measure is in place to prevent anyone from potentially bringing in any harmful liquids.
• Food – Please do not bring any food with you to the festival.
• Knives / sharp objects – Similar to the above re water, we don’t anticipate anyone bringing any harmful liquids, but we’d prefer not to take that risk. The same goes for anything sharp, so please make sure whatever you choose to carry with you is only 100% necessary (medication, sun cream etc.)
• Glassware & Event Programme – Once you’ve got your wristband on, grab a glass and programme. The glass is yours to keep and will be the only vessel beers will be served in on the day. The programme features the full beer menu and site maps for where to find each bar, brewery, water stations etc., and also includes the timings and a brief bio of each of the bands performing on the live music stage in the beer garden.
• Pour sizes – All beer is available in 1/3, 1/2 & 2/3 pint measures.
• Card Only – Suds With Buds is a cashless event and there’ll be no faffing around with a token system that other festivals opt to run with. Each brewery bar set up to take card payments only.
• Trip Hazards & Footwear – Please take care and be aware of potential trip hazards or uneven flooring while onsite. With this in mind, we recommend not wearing high heels. With the potential glass breakages in mind, please also avoid open-toed footwear.

Last Orders

All bars will stop serving at 8pm & all attendees are asked to have finished their final drinks and leave the site by 8:30pm - thanks in advance for your co-operation!

Toilets

Eight event toilets & three blocks of event urinals have been provided at the top of the Brewery Yard in addition to the permanent restrooms in the Taproom. In spite of this, please be aware queues will be inevitable & unavoidable as the festival progresses!

Wellness

We will have close to 100 exciting beers being poured by breweries from around the world, but Suds With Buds is not a challenge to try them all! Please drink responsibly; we’re all here to have a good time.

There is a designated wellness space, including a Wellness Officer courtesy of the beer equality group The Coven. Situated in what is usually the Taproom entrance, they will be able to assist with first-aid, mental health care, water, phone chargers and anything you might need, should you wish to take a little break along the way. They’ll also work closely with our team and security to act quickly to aid you, if required.

Accessibility

Every part of the festival is wheelchair accessible, apart from The Sample Room. However, some areas have more limited accessibility than others - please get in touch if you have any questions relating to this.

Parking

Despite it being a beer festival and Hornbeam Park train station being close by, we’ve assumed some people might choose to drive to the event. If so, please be aware that Rooster’s is unable to offer any reserved parking, with many of the car parks being private and the roads around the brewery being open to all and available on a first come, first served basis. This includes the many people who visit our corner of the Park to use the climbing wall or bring their kids to a gymnastics class, so space can sometimes be at a premium.

Staff & Volunteers

Staff and volunteers will be stationed in fixed positions at the main entrance, merch stand & Taproom bar, as well as at various points to help keep the one-way system we have put in place moving in the right direction and will be on hand if you need help for any reason. Additional staff will also be ‘roaming’ across the site throughout the day too.

Security

Fully trained security staff are on site for your safety and to help Suds With Buds run as smoothly as possible.

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We hope you have a great time.

Cheers!