MORE than 60 real ales will be on offer at Cockermouth Round Table’s annual beer festival which starts tonight.

Last year’s event raised nearly £7,000 towards good causes in the Cockermouth area, and the team of volunteers are hoping to raise even more this year.

There will also be live music, a quiz, lagers and ciders at the event being held in the Kirkgate Centre.

The beer festival is the group’s biggest fundraiser and members are delighted to have secured sponsorship from a range of businesses. As well as sponsoring them, Jennings has provided beer, glasses and other support.

“Many breweries donated some free barrels. All this support is vital to allow us to put on the event and enable us to keep so much of the revenue for local good causes,” said Tim Fox.

“We get a lot of donation requests through the year and events like this mean we can support lots of good causes.

“We are hoping the festival will be a big success, we have a great selection of beers, lots of them local, it’s amazing how many there are.”

The event starts tonight. Tonight, Friday and Saturday, the festival will run from 7pm until 11pm each night. It will also be held on Saturday afternoon, from noon until 4pm.

There will be a quiz on the opening night with live music tomorrow and Saturday nights.

Tickets cost £7 (£3.50 for the Saturday afternoon) and are available from the Kirkgate Centre, The Bush, The Bitter End, The Swan Inn, Jennings shop and the Cock and Bull.

This is the 13th year that the Cockermouth club has been running a beer festival.

A spokesperson added: “There are a lot of preparations going on. Last year the floods arrived on the same weekend and the numbers were understandably low.

“We are determined to make this year a success and are all looking forward to it.”

For more details contact enquiries@cockermouth beerfestival.co.uk.