ORGANISERS of the inaugural Wharfedale Beer Festival, to be held in Grassington in November, are predicting capacity crowds.

Even though it is three months away, more than 60 per cent of tickets have been sold for the two-day event which is hoping to raise more than £10,000 for community groups and other good causes in Upper Wharfedale.

The Upper Wharfedale Community Interest Company (CIC) will showcase over 60 real ales from breweries in and around the Yorkshire Dales National Park at Grassington Town Hall on Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7.

Lagers, real ciders, wines and spirits will also be available, whilst award winning local butchers Weatherhead and Son will be serving up pies, pasties and sausages rolls.

Tickets for the festival, whose main sponsor is the Ilkley and Skipton-based estate agents Dale Eddison, are now in short supply. The Friday afternoon session has sold out but tickets are still available for the Friday and Saturday night and Saturday afternoon sessions along with a limited number of barrel sponsorship opportunities.

CoCo and The Butterfields, who recently performed at the Glastonbury Festival after being voted the UK’s best unsigned band at The Cultural Awards, will headline the live music offering on Saturday night, with well-known festival band Refried Radio providing a plethora of rock covers on Friday night. On Saturday afternoon, real ale lovers will be able to enjoy a pint whilst viewing a re-run of the Yorkshire section of last year’s Tour de France.

One of the festival organisers, Dave Eggleton from Cracoe, said: “Despite a fair degree of scepticism we always remained confident that people would fancy something a little bit different in the dales and that we could bring large numbers to a beer and rock festival in Grassington.

"To think we have passed the 600 mark before the summer holidays is incredible and we are hugely optimistic that we will double that figure and be putting 'sold out' signs around the village before too long.

"If we can bring over 1,000 people to the event, not only will it probably be the largest fundraising spectacle in the area in recent years but it should also have side benefits for local pubs, cafés restaurants and shops in the local vicinity in between sessions.”

The UWCIC is looking to support three core sectors this year - community transport links between the villages throughout Upper Wharfedale and the neighbouring towns of Ilkley and Skipton, junior sports development at Upper Wharfedale Cricket Club, Wharfedale Rugby Club and Grassington Juniors Football Club and tourism safety organisations Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue and Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Festival tickets can still be bought at £10 each from the Narrow Boat in Skipton, the Flying Duck in Ilkley, the Foresters Arms and the Hub office in Grassington, the Blue Bell in Kettlewell and online at wharfedalebeerfestival.com. Special bus tickets from Ilkley and Skipton, which connect with trains from Leeds and Bradford, to and from Grassington can only be purchased via the website at £5 plus booking fees.