Have you realised that Ruddington’s famous annual beer, food and music festival is now almost upon us? Not only that, it’s celebrating TEN YEARS on The Green; after originally being launched and hosted at The White Horse, with other village pubs then joining in.
‘RuddFest 2024’ runs from Thursday 6th until Sunday 9th June – just a little later than last year. (The dates move slightly each time, due to Ruddington Village Market now being held on The Green on the first Saturday of every month.) Once again around over 100 beers and ciders are promised across its participating venues, with The Frame Breakers, The White Horse and The Red Lion also taking part.
Organiser John Noble tells RUDDINGTON.info: “It’s a proud moment looking back over the last 10 years and seeing the journey from where we started to where we are now. In our first year we had 15 cask ales and 5 ciders on The Green. We now have around 60 casks and 30 ciders. This growth has benefited every business in this village, not just the public houses, and they are all able to enjoy a well recognised and much loved village festival. It takes a lot of work planning this event, and each year things get tweaked, and new things are tried. It’s 4 days of the year I absolutely love and hate at the same time, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Ruddfest is here now, and enjoyed by so many people, and puts Ruddington on the map!”
This year the village green will have even more tables and chairs plus the addition of an accessibility toilet. The food traders are Ape About Pizza, serving hand-stretched wood fired pizzas, Fred from Gino’s Ristorante with his trailer serving burgers and fries, and The Three Spices offering both snacks and award winning curries. The bouncy castles will be back to help keep the kids entertained, and with a new addition, too. Also, as an extra treat this year, they have Brendan O’Brien playing on the Thursday from 7pm with an evening of Irish folk music. Their DJ is back Friday and Saturday evening. On Saturday afternoon it’s Paul Robinson (the ‘piano man’) and, on Sunday afternoon, Natalie Robinson is performing.
At The Frame Breakers will be offering over 25 different cask and 15 ciders. They’ll also be joined by their friends from The Ruddington’s Arms with their ‘Ruddy Clucker’ chicken, plus Theo’s Kitchen from The Grange. There’ll also be live music from Evie M on Thursday evening, James Manners on Friday evening and Matty Haynes on Sunday evening.
The White Horse promises to be back with a bang this year. Andy Hunt reveals: “After a few years of testing the water post-Covid, we return with our big stage and beer and cider tents. We will be doing a BBQ and The Pizza Kitchen will be back in full swing. Live acts from across Nottingham will be gracing the main stage. Thursday kicks off with an ‘open mic’ night on the big stage. We have a number of acts booked in but there’s always room for more, so please get in touch. We are really looking forward to the tenth anniversary and can’t wait to welcome the Ruddington faithful. Keep an eye out for local residents discounts, queue-jumping and special treats!”
The Red Lion will be featuring a selection for beers, wines & spirits and, this time, also offering handmade cocktails. Gareth McManus says: “We are super excited this year. We have music Friday evening outside (if we finally get some sunshine), Saturday we have a backyard boogaloo bringing music to you all day from 2pm. Friday evening we have Little John Pizzas serving their amazing freshly baked pizzas. Then, on Saturday, we will be serving pork and stuffing cobs alongside jacket potatoes.”
John Noble adds: “Of course, all our other village businesses will be open and ready, including the guys from Jaspers and Jules, ready to fill you up with their full English breakfasts. Fingers crossed for another fantastic year and four days of great family fun with a lovely enjoyable atmosphere!”
Organisers do ask us to drink responsibly and, if coming from further afield, to visit RuddFest using public transport, if at all possible – especially given that parking is very limited in Ruddington village centre.
Nottingham City Transport’s Navy 3 and Green 10C/10X and the NottsBus Connect Service 863 all serve The Green. Moreover, the governments fare cap of just £2 per single journey is continuing for now.
