1st Anniversary Charity Festival
As if finishing the 100-mile charity kayak challenge wasn’t enough of a reason to throw a mega party at the end of May 2024, the end of the challenge very conveniently coincided with the 1-year anniversary of Matt getting the keys to The Horseshoes Nuneaton. What a year it’s been.
We’ve put on countless events such as Rum Ribs Reggae 2023 and the Ibiza Weekender, live music nights nearly every Saturday, themed music DJ parties; we’ve brought the Horseshoes Nuneaton kitchen back to life from a 1 star rating to a flourishing 5 star rating serving the most unique menu around; and we’ve raised an incredible amount of money for charity along the way.
So, it was absolutely fitting to celebrate this 1st year anniversary in style in the new Secret Beer Garden. With a brand new marquee and music stage, 3 live music slots, plenty of tables and chairs and a BBQ fired up - we had everything we needed to get the party started. We were absolutely blown away by the sheer number of people that came out to mark this occasion with us. The staff did not stop all day and neither did the crowds.
We started the afternoon with yet another fantastic performance of popular rock and pop cover songs from Rachel Roberts, who we’ve had here to perform on a Saturday night in the past, so we knew she’d be just right to kick off proceedings and she did not disappoint one bit. As the sun was shining and more and more people found their way to the pub, we knew we were in for a special day.
Even when the rain started pouring down for the first time of the afternoon the brilliant King Crooks, another great band we’ve had perform here before, kept spirits high with their electric rock covers set. The drink was flowing and the air guitars were out in full force from the crowd.
All the while, our partners from Nuneaton Catering Company were keeping everyone fed with some incredible BBQ food. Burgers, hotdogs, steaks, kebabs, fries, sides and the lot! A massive thank you to Ben for working his socks off non-stop keeping people’s bellies full.
It was heartwarming to see how many people were stopping to take time from the festivities to congratulate Matt on his 100-mile kayak achievement and to pass comment on how much people have enjoyed his rejuvenation of The Horseshoes Nuneaton.
We took a brief pause in proceedings to conduct our raffle and it wouldn't be right if we didn’t say a massive thank you to all the individuals and businesses that contributed to the prize pool. We had some incredible gifts to give away and hopefully you got lucky and grabbed one!
After the raffle, it was time for our live music finale and the boys from Finnegan’s Revival certainly put on a show. What more do you want after a day in the pub than some good old Irish drinking songs, sea shanties, jigs and reels. They absolutely hit the spot with their setlist - what a talented trio of musicians they are.
By this time, it was over to our resident DJ and Events Coordinator, Neil from Whitby Entertainment, seeing us through into the nighttime and getting people on the dancefloor as he always does on our regular DJ nights on a Friday. If you’ve not been over to one yet, you must make sure you do!
I think all that’s left to say is another massive thank you to everyone that came out in full force to celebrate with us on Sunday 26th May for our 1 year anniversary. To the staff here, you all did an incredible job. The bar staff inside who didn’t sit down for a minute, Ben on the BBQ, Neil coordinating the entertainment, James from James Burford Marketing for the photo and video coverage, and to the whole Sherrington family for pitching in to make this event, and the last year, so successful.
Roll on next year!
