The 11th annual Ron Bonar Beer Festival at the Fisherman’s Tavern in Broughty Ferry may have become “a victim of its own success,” according to the Royal National Lifeboats Institution’s Captain Joe Samson.
As the weekend-long event drew to a close on Sunday night, Mr Samson said the festival had been a great success, but there had been some issues with queuing as customers waited to get into the beer garden.
“It went very well,” he said. “I was down yesterday for a couple of hours and I’m going again tonight.
“There have been issues with queuing. The size of the garden means we have to be careful we don’t overcrowd it.
“I wouldn’t say the festival’s outgrown the venue though.”
The queues were at their worst on Saturday afternoon, with people standing in line for up to 40 minutes as a doorman from the RNLI tried to monitor drinkers in the garden.
Frustrated festival-goers stuck in the queue were aggravated further by those already in the beer garden stepping in and out of the pub to use the portable toilets parked on Fort Street.
One angry woman said, “They need a better system to keep track of those who are leaving just to go to the toilet and then going back in, and those who are leaving for the night.”
Some gave up and abandoned all hopes of gaining access to the beer garden.
Mr Samson said he was aware of the issue and would be discussing it this week with Fisherman’s manager Tracey Cooper.
He said, “We may have to see if we need to address our allocation of tickets.
“It’s been a great success but a victim of its own success. It’s great once you’re in though.”
Supervisor at the bar Tarig Brady agreed this year’s event, which raises money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, had been one of the most popular yet.
“It’s been full to capacity,” he said. “There was a little bit of rain but that’s not dampened anyone’s spirits.
“People need to come down a little bit earlier because we had to do one in one out this year. Space was the issue.
“The queue’s not been as big on the Sunday as Saturday and it’s been flowing well.”
The event has raised more than £100,000 for the RNLI over the years.
Named in honour of Ron Bonar, chairman of the Broughty Ferry RNLI until his death shortly before the first beer festival, this year’s weekender featured 40 real ales, fruit ciders and wines from the Cairn O’Mohr and local bands.