The Wessex Beer, Cider and Music Festival returns again this year at Chilcompton Sports Ground on Friday, 1st and Saturday, 2nd September.

With cider rising in popularity, this year there will be more ciders than real ale. This year will see 28 real ales, some sourced locally, and a great range of 35 ciders. This year for the first time, the festival will feature its own Cider, called ‘Wessex Wallop’.

Organised by the Somer Valley Rotary Club, the event has grown year on year. Such has been its success, that it has attracted visitors from across the globe, with twelve men turning up from Muraer’n beer club in Norway!

Tickets are now on sale online and organisers report that there has been an early take-up of tickets in the first week.

As in previous years, there will be live bands playing throughout the Festival and a selection of hot foods with a pig roast. Music will see bands such as U Me and Him, Call the Shots, Bobby Martian and the Planets and Up Your Brass performing live. The festival runs from 6 p.m. until midnight on Friday, 1st September and 12 noon until midnight on Saturday, 2nd September. All profits will go to local charities.

The whole event is under cover and not affected by the weather, with two marquees covering an area of 600 square metres. The event also welcomes back their main sponsor this year, ETAVONI engineering, based in Radstock.

Tickets are available online from: www.wessexbeerfestival.co.uk, from Geoffrey Smith Estate Agents in the High Street, Midsomer Norton, or from Phil Day Traditional Family Butchers, Radstock.