Review: Gin & Rum Festival – Harrogate

In August, I was invited to the Gin & Rum Festival in Harrogate to review the evening event in exchange for a blog post. I’d never attended the Gin & Rum Festival before, although I had previously been to similar gin festival events. I was allowed to bring along a plus one so I asked my best friend Arron if he’d like to attend with me, as he’s as much of a gin fan as I am. Harrogate is a beautiful spa town in North Yorkshire, and the Gin & Rum Festival was located in the Royal Hall.

Entry was super fast, the security staff did a bag check and then you proceed to have your tickets scanned. There are two sessions each day, a day time session and an evening session. I decided to go to the evening session on the Friday, after I’d finished work. Inside, the room was filled with themed bars, which showcased over 120 gins and rums. There is also a mixer station so you can top up your spirits.

We bought two drinks each (with our own money), priced at £5 per drink, which included a spirit of your choice and a mixer. You are also given your own glass for your drinks, that you also get to take home with you and a Gin & Rum Festival satchel to put any leaflets and business cards in which you may have picked up as you walk around.

Another exciting part of the evening was the talks! Just by sheer luck, we managed to catch the majority of the Schweppes talk, who were the sponsors of this years Gin & Rum Festival. This gave me the opportunity to sample some Schweppes mixers which I wouldn’t normally get to try. The final talk of the evening was Rascal Gin, founded by an ex teacher from Liverpool, who was extremely hilarious and it was so interesting hearing his story of how he left teaching, worked for another gin brand for a while and then created his own gin earlier this year. Arron even bought himself a bottle of Rascal Gin as we were leaving.

What a brilliant evening! It’s such a great day/evening out (depending on which time slot you choose). It’s also a good opportunity to try some new gins or rums which you usually wouldn’t opt for. You never know, you may discover a new favourite! Throughout the year, the festival tours around different places across the UK.