Well, we did it. In a few weeks, on May 1st 2023, we will be celebrating our 4th birthday at Pellicle!

It sounds incredibly pessimistic to say that I wasn’t sure if we would make it this far, but it’s not exactly been the most accommodating time to be starting a food and drink publication, has it?

Photography by Matt the List from our launch party at Craving Coffee on May 1st 2019

But, this is not the place, nor time, for negative thoughts, because we are throwing a party! It’s been a long time since our launch party, at Craving Coffee in Tottenham, near my old workplace at Beavertown Brewery, all the way back in 2019. Despite being almost four years ago, the night is still fresh in my memory.

The coming together of friends, colleagues, mentors, sponsors, future contributors, writers and featured producers all in one room sharing a drink in an informal manner was so exciting, and one of the most memorable nights of my life to date. It set a precedent for what we aimed to achieve with Pellicle, which was to provide a platform for people to share their love, fascination, and joy for all things food and drink. Something, which I’m proud to say we have managed to uphold over the last four years.

We’ve had the opportunity to host a few events since then, including at Fyne Fest in 2019 and 2022, and most recently with our friends at Peg in London last summer. The latter is part of the Noble Group, which included wine bar P. Franco, a venue that played a monumental role in inspiring this magazine. We were devastated when we heard of its closure earlier this year, but remain grateful to have had the opportunity to throw a party with them. Still it’s been a while since we’ve held an event where we can all come together to celebrate the magazine, just as we did back in 2019.

And so, on Thursday, May 4th, we will be throwing a party at Newbarns Brewery Taproom in Leith, Scotland from 5-10 pm. We have brewed a special beer in collaboration with Newbarns [you mean you brewed it—Ed] for the occasion (more on that later), which will be launching exclusively on the night. Even better news is that all of our badge-carrying Patreon supporters will get their first pint of it for free on the night.

If you’re not already a supporter on Patreon, we are actively trying to reach 500 Patreon subscribers and become profitable by May 1st, and so as an extra incentive, we will have a stand on the night where you can sign up to support the magazine, and if you become a Pellicle Pal (£8 per month) on the night, not only will you receive your pin badge and sticker pack on the spot, but you’ll get a pint on us!

Sounds pretty great, right? Well, what if I told you that there would also be cake? And balloons? And all the things you would expect at a 4-year-olds birthday party. Except for a bouncy castle, as the budget won’t stretch to that (until we hit our Patreon target, anyway). But as a consolation prize, I will be DJing the set I never got to play at last year’s FyneFest, so dust off your dancing shoes. And who knows maybe there will be a spontaneous darts competition!