Heady times for drinkers as bar opens at annual festival

Organised by the Hull and East Yorkshire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, the festival offers a bewildering array of brews for discerning palates, with 70 real ales, 25 real ciders and perries, and 20 bottled German and Belgian beers available.

Festival organiser Stewart Campbell wasted no time in sampling a Chocolate Cherry Mild made by the Dunham Massey brewery near Manchester.

“It’s absolutely wonderful,” he said. “It’s the one beer I wanted to get for the festival after I had some earlier in the year.”

The three-day festival is based in the Mortimer Suite at Hull City Hall, and as well as providing a stage for some of the leading independent local brewers - such as Great Newsome Brewery on the East Coast – also features some of the Champion Beers of Britain.

But while the region is currently basking in soaring temperatures, the heat is posing a challenge to the volunteers staffing the festival, who are deploying blocks of ice and damp tea towels in a bid to keep the casks cool.

All 500 tickets for tonight have been sold.