This year's Market Bosworth Rail Ale Festival was held Friday 25th to Sunday 27th July 2025

The festival was blessed with good weather and was well attended.

The Heritage Buses brought in many visitors and like last year, picking up from Nuneaton and Hinckley seems to work well. There were a few people who had who travelled some distance including one from Canada.

Diesel and steam trains ran all weekend and the bar on the train proved to be popular. The Battlefield Line’s steam loco “Fred” was featured on the Festival Pint Glass this year.

There was a fine display of traction engines both large and small, and the road engines made their usual trip up into Market Bosworth town and back. There was also a selection of miniature traction engines and vintage cars and trucks.

Dr Busker performed again on Friday and Saturday nights, and much beer and cider was consumed over the weekend.

All of the Pimms was gone by Saturday evening, along with 23 bottles of Prosecco and 28 bottles of wine. Also 23 bottles of Corona Cero and 30 cans of Guinness Zero which we tried for the first time this year.

On the beer bar we started with 4,808 pints and had 554 pints left on Sunday evening. After returning 1 full Keg to Milestone, we had 10.4% of the beers left. Sales were pretty equal on Friday and Saturday at around 1,800 pints per day. Friday night seemed busier than Saturday night which appears to reflect what the pubs are finding. Sunday was fairly quiet on the bars as it seemed that there were more families during the day.

Only 2 beers sold out on Friday night, both were pins -first was Xtreme Ales BlaX Forest, followed by Leatherbritches Lemongrass & Ginger. The dark beers were popular again especially the Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild.

All of the cider on the bar was drunk by 10.30 on Saturday night. As there was no bar on the train on Sunday, those beers and ciders were put on the main bar, and of the 28 cider boxes we started with, we were left with approximately 1/3 of a box on Sunday evening. The first to sell out was Liley’s Crazy Goat, followed by Thirsty Farmer’s Orange and Pineapple. Unlike at other festivals, the fruit ciders remain popular here and sold out first. Their low ABV may have something to do with it.

Thank you to all the Battlefield Line and CAMRA volunteers who gave up their time to set up, clear away, and work throughout the festival. It couldn’t be done without you. Thanks also to the sponsors, whether it was for a single cask or a whole bar, every penny is appreciated.

Special thanks go to Rob for getting the sponsorship, David and Tracy for the beers, Michelle for the Health & Safety forms and Facebook, Gary for doing membership, Peter for being Treasurer, and John for organising the staffing and an awful lot more.

If you have any feedback or suggestions for next year, please let us know. Thank you again and hope to see you all again next year.

Volunteers thank you visit to Thornbridge Brewery

MBRAF pre event details