Lincoln’s pubs and clubs held their own Freshers’ Fayre on Tuesday as an alternative to the official Students’ Union Fayre.
It was held at the Glasshouse and proved very popular with students, some of whom queued for an hour to get in. Just a short walk from the campus, it was an ideal location to rival the SU Freshers’ Fayre.
All the bars and clubs who took part are members of Lincoln’s Pubwatch scheme. It has 39 members, 38 of whom supported the event.
Pubwatch is designed so that all participating clubs and pubs agree on policies for anti-social behaviour, and minimum unit prices for alcohol.
The scheme is supported by both Lincolnshire Police and the City Council.
Dominic McGowan, the manager of the Library Bar and the student liaison officer for Pubwatch in Lincoln, says that the event “has its roots in the bars and clubs being banned from attending the [official] Freshers’ Fayre”.
“[The alternative fayre] was run on a not-for-profit basis, giving all city centre bars and clubs, no matter what their size, the opportunity to introduce themselves to the new and returning students.”
He described it as being an “extremely successful event”.
Stephen Clark, the general manager of the Glasshouse, also agreed that day was a success: “It’s taken a couple of months to plan and it’s going really well.”
“It’s not all about alcohol. There are places like Intersport, and restaurants promoting [their] menus. We’re trying to promote responsibility too; there’s nobody giving away free alcohol.”
A raffle was also held during the day-long event to raise money for Street Pastors, a church group who help out at night in the city centre. Mr McGowan praised the group, calling them “fantastic” and saying their work “is a great bonus for Lincoln”.
Mr Clark said the event was designed so that all the venues had an opportunity to present first-year students with all the options: “It’s all about giving businesses a chance. Other businesses can’t afford a place at the SU Fayre.”
Mr Clark hopes to make this an annual occurrence: “I’d love to have it happen again, except [next] time we’ll have a year to plan it properly.”