There are beer festivals, and then there are beer festivals where you can climb aboard a steam train and travel through the Kent countryside between your next pint.
That is rather the appeal of the Spa Valley Railway Real Ale & Cider Festival, which returns from Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 October 2026, bringing four days of beer, cider, live music, food and heritage railway travel to the line between Tunbridge Wells West, Groombridge and Eridge.
Now in its 16th year, the festival has become one of the South East’s biggest celebrations of real ale and cider, and it is a particularly good excuse to discover the Spa Valley Railway in autumn.
Because, frankly, drinking a pint beside a railway is enjoyable. Drinking one beside a steam locomotive is considerably more memorable.
Beer, Cider and a Heritage Railway
The festival will bring together an impressive selection of drinks, with around 220 real ales, including 36 Kent Green Hop beers, alongside 14 keg beers and 78 ciders.
The Kent Green Hop beers are particularly appropriate for an October festival in Kent. Made using freshly harvested hops straight from the county’s hop gardens, they are seasonal beers with a freshness and character that comes from using the hops soon after picking.
For those who prefer cider, there is plenty to choose from too, while food and live music will add to the festival atmosphere.
And then there is the railway itself.
The festival is spread across the Spa Valley Railway, with the main beer festival and live music centred on the historic Victorian Engine Shed at Tunbridge Wells West Station. Visitors can also travel between the festival sites at Groombridge and Eridge by heritage train.
It turns the journey itself into part of the experience.
A Railway With a Story
The Spa Valley Railway is much more than a preserved railway offering steam train rides. Its route follows a line with a fascinating history stretching back to the 19th century.
Tunbridge Wells West station opened in 1866, built by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway as part of a route connecting the spa town with the south coast and London. The railway eventually formed part of the Southern Railway network and became a busy cross-country route.
But, like many branch lines, its fortunes declined as road transport became increasingly popular. The Tunbridge Wells to Eridge section eventually closed in 1985.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the end of the story.
Railway preservationists took on the challenge of bringing the line back to life, and the Spa Valley Railway eventually reopened the route to Groombridge in 1997. Further development followed, with the line now running for around five miles through the High Weald to Eridge.
Today, the railway provides a nostalgic journey through some beautiful Kent countryside, with steam and heritage diesel locomotives transporting visitors between the stations.
During the beer festival, however, the trains acquire an additional purpose.
They become the rather useful transport system for anyone wanting to explore the different festival sites – and there are bars on board too.
The Festival Experience
Entry to the festival sites themselves is free, so visitors can simply turn up and enjoy the atmosphere at the stations.
For those wanting to make more of the experience, Rover tickets allow unlimited travel on the heritage trains, making it possible to hop between Tunbridge Wells West, Groombridge and Eridge while sampling what is on offer at each location.
It is a wonderfully old-fashioned way to spend a weekend. Rather than moving between pubs by car or taxi, you can board a train, settle into a heritage carriage, watch the High Weald roll past the window and arrive at the next station ready to investigate another selection of beers and ciders.
Live music and freshly cooked food will add to the atmosphere, with the Victorian Engine Shed providing a particularly atmospheric setting for the main festival.
The event begins at 6pm on Thursday 15 October, with the festival continuing through Sunday 18 October.
And while the beer list is clearly designed to keep enthusiasts busy, you don’t need to be a serious real-ale expert to enjoy it. The combination of historic trains, countryside, food, music and the slightly surreal pleasure of having a pint at a Victorian railway station makes this a rather different sort of October day out.
A Taste of Kent’s Brewing Heritage
There is also something fitting about holding the festival here. Kent has a long association with hop growing and brewing, and the inclusion of dozens of Kent Green Hop beers provides a chance to taste some of the county’s seasonal produce alongside beers and ciders from further afield.
Add in the railway’s own history and you have an event that feels very much rooted in its surroundings rather than simply being a beer festival that happens to have a railway nearby.
Whether you arrive for the beer, the cider, the music, the steam trains – or simply because the prospect of combining all four sounds too good to ignore – the Spa Valley Railway Real Ale & Cider Festival takes place from 15–18 October 2026.
And if you do decide to go, there is one important piece of advice: don’t try to drive between the festival sites.
Take the train. That’s rather the point.
For event details and tickets, visit Spa Valley Railway
(Images © Spa Valley Railway)
