Bottoms up: Sunderland to host its first gin festival

The House of Gin will take over the National Glass Centre on Friday, August 19, for an event dedicated to the trendy tipple.

The gin specialists have teamed up with UniSpace, the conference and events arm of the University of Sunderland, and Fentimans Tonic for the event, which will be the first festival of its kind in the city.

Only 200 tickets will be available for the boutique festival, which will feature 18 specially-selected gins.

The House of Gin is the brainchild of Jamie Collin and John Bagnall, who’ve racked up ten years’ experience in the drinks and events industry.

Jamie said: “We created the House of Gin as a boutique event to showcase the finest gins from the UK and around the world, enabling like-minded gin enthusiasts to speak directly with the distillers and learn about their journey, distilling methods and this very unique liquid, not forgetting one or two G&Ts on the way.”

Gins featured will include Elephant, Brockmans, Sir Robin of Locksley, Copperhead (from Belgium), Ish, Brennen & Brown and Conker.

John said: “We will be offering tastings and advice on their perfect serve, as well as giving people the chance to purchase bottles direct from the stand, discounted especially for the event.”

UniSpace commercial manager, Mal Robinson, said: “The university will be looking to hold a range of up and coming exciting events in the near future. We are delighted to have the House of Gin on board as an indication of what we want to achieve in the forthcoming months. I am sure the gin lovers of Sunderland will be flocking to buy tickets.”

•The House of Gin festival at National Glass Centre will run from 6pm to 11pm on August 19. Tokens can be purchased at the event which can then be used at the bar. Each token costs £5.50 but a card of four tokens can be purchased for £20.

For details visit www.thehouseofgin.co.uk