11th – 13th August 2023
SwanFest Day 1 – Friday
A nice day had been forecast, and that is what we got – warm with sunny periods – which were perfect conditions for SwanFest Day 1. The live music kicked off at two with James Lainey, a firm Swan favourite. During the afternoon, The Courtyard got busier and busier, and by the time BackTrack came on at seven, it was full. There was dancing. There was singing. And one or two beers and burgers consumed – the German Keller Bier proving very popular indeed.
One of our Guinness World Record attempts with Micky at one end and Alfie at the other. They managed 8m (26 feet) in this attempt. Maybe not a world record, but certainly a pub one! This video is already a classic. What will he think of next?
SwanFest Day 2 – Saturday
SwanFest Day 2 started nice and early – well for Micky anyway – at 7.55 am when he was interviewed for BBC Radio Berkshire. Bridgitte Tetteh’s Saturday Morning Show, BBC Berkshire on Saturday 12th August.
The weather wasn’t as good for day 2, but the heavens didn’t open, so that was good. Another busy day and we welcomed the guys from CAMRA who were having a fun day out. We also welcomed Sharon Adkins and Peter Allen, all the way from Romford, and Pierre, all the way from Canary Wharf. Music was provided by False Bypass in the afternoon, debutants Riot Monkeys, who played a few, and the evening was finished off by Sharks in the Water. There was also some time to try the Baked Bean Challenge.
SwanFest Day 3 – Sunday
So the first outing for the Windsor Ukulele Group was a real success! They had a packed Courtyard, singing along to a variety of traditional and light pop songs. This was a real community event. Well done! Note, they meet every Tuesday at 7 pm, all welcome.
And DJ Wildcat, well, he was fantastic as always. Who wanted to go to the Racecourse with entertainment like this?
The raffle was really popular, raising over £1,500 towards the renovation funds. Thank you to all our sponsors for donating prizes, which we really appreciated.
There was a world record attempt regarding the number of spoons balanced on your nose. We believe that Kelly has achieved that with 37 spoons. We are writing to Guinness World Records with evidence and will let you know the outcome.
At the time of writing, the pub had seen the most customers over a weekend and taken in more money than ever before. This is really good news as people know the pub has been struggling a little with utility bill & mortgage increases, as well as in core elements such as beer and wine. A huge thanks to the community for your support.
SwanFest – The Preparation
A lot of preparation goes into SwanFest by Micky, staff and volunteers. It started way back and included Micky making our own beer, the stage, the raffle prizes, all the beers, the … you get the idea hopefully! Here are some snapshots of what happened over the last days and weeks. Will start with the making of our own brew: SwanFest Summer Ale.
And there were several deliveries of beer made to The Swan. Here is just a small sample of our guest ales that we have on in the main bar …
The outside bar was set up as the WEBrew Bar, selling a wide range of Windsor & Eton beers. Also, there was a small stage built to accommodate the various singers, groups and bands over the three days.
