ALE drinkers who have not already bought their tickets for this year’s Swindon Beer Festival will be disappointed after another sell-out year.

The beer festival – which will take place from next Thursday to Saturday at the Steam museum – is organised every year by the Swindon branch of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) and has continued to be a highlight in the town’s boozy calendar.

More than 2,000 people are now expected through the doors between 7pm on Thursday evening and 7pm on Saturday, to sample around 150 different ales, ciders and perrys produced from local, favourite and craft breweries.

This year marks the 28th year that the festival has been held in the town and is the perfect opportunity for beer lovers to mingle and sample some of the best offerings from around the country.

“We’ve got over 120 beers from all sorts of different breweries including the local ones as well as around 30 different perrys and ciders, said Richard James, branch secretary.

“We have got beers from all the local breweries, and some from further afield as well so there should be a good selection on offer.

“We expect it be much the same as in previous ears. People always come along and enjoy it and that’s probably why it has sold out “It’s the eight year that we’ve held it in Steam, which is just a brilliant venue for it.

“We are able to sell about 700 tickets for each session and they are very popular.”

The past few years has also seen the notable rise in craft and micro breweries as well as the bigger more traditional beer manufacturers.

Richard said: “Real ale is beginning to see a bit of a revival at the moment and it seems like there are breweries springing up all over the place.

“Of course we’ll have beers from them as well, like the Hop Kettle in Cricklade, Malmesbury Brewery, Castle Combe Brewery, The Flying Monk Brewery.

“There are more and more every year so there should be some interesting choices.”

There will also be live music on the Friday and Saturday evenings to keep the drinkers entertained.

The local branch of CAMRA is always on the look out for new members who want to learn more about beer, socialise and join the Campaign for Real Ale.

 To find out more about the Swindon branch, visit www.swindoncamra.org.uk