THE festival spirit will descend on an otherwise sleepy Lake District village this weekend.

The Grasmere Guzzler gets off to a flying start on Friday (September 5) and will run through until late on Sunday (September 7) when the taps run dry.

Now in its eighth year, the annual music and beer festival at Tweedies Bar will be offering thirsty punters more than 80 different cask ales to choose from.

“Our customers come to Tweedies for the great live music and the broad range and quality of our cask ales,” said festival founder and Tweedies bar manager Alex Goodall. “The Grasmere Guzzler is an exciting culmination of all of this and we can’t wait to showcase some fantastic new talent.”

The celebration of Britain’s brewing heritage will see ales from everywhere from Cumbrian Legendary Ales and Peterborough’s Oakham Ales to North Cornwall’s Harbour Brewing Company and Macclesfield’s Red Willow Brewery, plus a range of traditional ciders and craft beers.

Alex added: “We’ve expanded the number of ales this year from 60 to 80 to offer an even bigger range and of course meet the demands of our discerning fans!

“We served over 4000 pints last year and can’t wait to serve even more this time around”

There will also be a culinary feast complete with a BBQ including pulled pork with apple and veggie options – all created by Raymond Blanc-trained head chef, James Goodall.

And this year the festival, held in a marquee outside Tweedies and Dale Lodge Hotel, will see an almost entirely new line-up with live music from the likes of Didley Squatt, Mobins Loop, Tethera, Handbrake Shirley and many more.

Festival goers will also be treated to story-telling from Taffy Thomas and the event will see a showcase of poetry from Mark Ward from the Wordsworth Trust.

The event is free to attend and family-friendly, although under-18s must be accompanied by an adult.

For more information call 015394 35300 or visit www.dalelodgehotel.co.uk