WELL-wishers have rallied round to help after 35 beer hand pumps were stolen - just one week before the Bradford Beer Festival.

On Friday last week (February 14), Bradford CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) were devastated to find the festival store had been broken into and hand pumps stolen. Many are uniquely marked with two pence pieces inset into their wooden bases and ‘BC’ references painted onto the main bodies. 

Peter Down, from Bradford CAMRA, said organisers had gone to check on everything following Storm Ciara and found the cruel break-in.

“It was one week to go before the festival, the hand pumps are a vital part of what we do, so there was an element of having to think what else we could do. Then we started making calls to see if we could call in some favours.”

The Bradford branch has thanked their counterparts in Wakefield, plus Saltaire Brewery and Ilkley Round Table for their support, which means the festival can be held with minimal disruption.

“It has been really heartening,” said Peter, who added that at one point they feared the festival would have to be pulled.

But thankfully, that’s not the case, and the festival kicks off today at Victoria Hall and will run until Saturday.

Peter said: “It is looking to be another successful event with advance tickets for the Friday evening session being effectively sold out and those for the Saturday afternoon session also selling well. There are still advance tickets left for the Thursday and Saturday evening sessions whilst the Friday afternoon session will be ‘pay on entry’ only.”

Advance tickets can be bought online at www.bradfordbeerfestival.co.uk. If there are any tickets left for the advance ticket sessions, they will be sold on the door on a first come, first served basis but there may be limited availability.

There will be around 130 real ales from around Yorkshire and the guest areas of North-East England and Kent, as well as a few from elsewhere. There will also be 20 real ciders and perries as well as craft keg and international beers, country wines and soft drinks. 

The bands for the Friday and Saturday evenings are Sawdust and Age Against the Machine. There also be the usual appearances of the Wurlitzer organ on Thursday evening and Hall Royd Brass Band on Saturday afternoon.

l If anyone has information about the theft or has knowledge of the hand pumps coming up for sale, they are asked to get in touch with police, quoting crime reference number 13200082355 or Bradford CAMRA by email at bbf@bradfordcamra.org.uk.