OVER 75 real ales will be available to beer lovers at the 12th Skipton Beer Festival which kicks off on Thursday (April 12).

The brews will be sweeping in from places as far apart as Orkney and Somerset and Suffolk and Wales and over the water from the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland.

Set up again in Skipton’s Ermysted’s Grammar School in Gargrave Road, the array of drinks will also include real ciders and perries from Cornwall to Scotland as well as bottled and foreign beers from Ireland Belgium, Holland, Germany & Czechoslovakia.

Wine lovers have not been forgotten and also available will be soft drinks for “designated” drivers.

And Skipton butchers Drake & Macefield will be providing pies to keep hunger at bay.

Denny Cornell-Howarth of Keighley & Craven CAMRA which is organising the event, said: “Ermysted’s Grammar School is very handy for the facilities at Skipton town centre.

“It is only a few minutes walk from the bus and train stations which have good connections to Keighley, Leeds, Bradford, Ilkley, Lancaster, Morecambe, Preston and Grassington.

“As always we donate to a local charity with our raffle of beer and pub related items and this year once again we are pleased to support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance..”

The event runs from Thursday April 12 to Saturday April 14.

Opening times and admission prices as follows: Thursday April 12: open 3pm - 10pm ticket £2.50 all day.

Friday April 13 open 11am - 10pm. Ticket £2.50 from 11am - 4pm and then £3.50 from 4pm - 10pm

Saturday April 14 open 11am - 10pm. Ticket £3.50 for 11am - 6pm and then free 6pm - 10pm

“No pre sale tickets are needed and people pay on the door. Group bookings are available with discounts and the event is free to card-carrying CAMRA members at all times,” Denny added.

For more information people should visit the website at https://skiptonbeerfestival.camra.org.uk/ of Facebook @KeighleyCravenCAMRA , Twitter @SkiptonBeerFest and keighleyandcraven.camra.org.uk/