Rail Ale's 25th anniversary at Barrow Hill Roundhouse offers 400 real ales and live music during four-day celebration

Hundreds of supporters will be flocking to Derbyshire’s most atmospheric festival which runs from May 15 to 18, 2025 in the UK’s last surviving railway roundhouse.

More than 400 real ales from around the country will be available including many brewed in Derbyshire. There will be a range of craft ales and ciders, a gin palace plus prosecco and wine bar.

The live music kicks off with Thursday’s Rail Ale Rock Night, headlined by headlined by the UK’s premier Queen tribute band Flash. Captivating audiences throughout England and around the world, Flash has headlined some of the UK’s largest festivals including the Glastonbudget which is one of the nation’s biggest tribute band festivals, the annual Fake Festival tour, Marvellous Festival, and GlastonBarry. Chesterfield based heavy rock band Brude will be supporting Flash at Rail Ale’s opening concert.

Ten-piece band Jungle Lion will get the crowd dancing with their ska and reggae tunes on the Friday night, supported by the Midnight Pumpkin Trucks.

Expect a big shout-out to Super Troupers and Dancing Queens when tribute act Let’s ABBA Party take to the Roundhouse stage, supported by The Crossroads Band.

Country music fans will be boot-scooting their way to Barrow Hill on the afternoon of Sunday, May 18 for a special session at the festival. Nashville @ The Roundhouse will include live performances by Shania and Friends which is the UK’s leading tribute to Shania Twain, the East Midlands top country band Saguaro, and Adam Harding, a solo artist and member of the 21st Century Nashville Touring show. This country music afternoon is a family event and free for under 18s.

Pork pies, pizza, hog roast and noodles will be among the tasty fare available in The Street Food Court throughout the festival.

Visitors will be able to hop aboard the Rail Ale train between 12noon and 5pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A shuttle bus service will also be running from Chesterfield railway station into the festival on all four days.

A four-day festival pass, including admission to Rail Ale Rock Night and Nashville @ The Roundhouse costs £74.20. Standard tickets for the Rail Ale Rock Night cost £19.25 each while tickets for Nashville @ The Roundhouse cost £22. Tickets for Friday or Saturday (12 noon until 11pm) cost £17.60. To book, go to https://railalefestival.com