More than 50 gins on offer at Sunderland festival

Following on from the success of its in-house award-winning Poetic License distillery, Roker Hotel will host the event on Friday, February 23 and Saturday, February 24 in its Six Soldiers Suite.

There will be two main gin bars – one focusing on London Dry style gins and the other on flavoured gins. On the beer side, there will be cask and kegged beer bars as well as an ample selection of craft bottles and cans.

There will also be a cocktail bar serving up a selection of gin concoctions, as well as live entertainment and a hog roast.

Roker Hotel, Poetic License Distillery and Sonnet 43 Brew House are all owned by Tavistock Hospitality.

The company’s MD, Mark Hird, said: “It has long been an ambition of mine to put a festival of this kind on in my flagship venue with products from my own brewery and distillery and now seems to be the right time. We recently launched a range of gin liqueurs on the distillery side and brew a range of nine beers so we have lots for people to try, not to mention the drinks we’ll have from other top producers. We’re hopeful the event will offer a great experience for gin lovers and beer boffins alike.”

Talking about the event style, Mark added: “We’re aiming to conjure up a summer festival vibe during these cold winter months. There hasn’t been anything like this in the Wearside areas before; it’s a fantastic opportunity to try new drinks, not to mention it’s a great social gathering. It’s sure to be a great weekend.”

On arrival, festival-goers will receive a ‘what’s on the bar’ guide to help them decide what they want to try on their tasting expedition as well as a glass to fill with gin or beer.

The drinks will be served by redeeming tokens which are purchased from their kiosk on arrival, meaning drinks are paid at a flat rate

The full selection of Poetic License gins and Sonnet 43 beers will be available, as well as other producers.

There will be three sessions; Friday night, Saturday day and Saturday night. Tickets are £12 each and there are only 300 tickets available for each session.

Booking is essential and tickets are now available from Roker Hotel reception or from Tel. 0191 5671786.