ORGANISERS of Pendle Beer Festival are expecting a bumper day today - but said they hope to avoid a repeat of last year where they sold out before closing time.

The annual event, celebrating its 10th birthday, kicked off on Thursday night with more than 400 people enjoying a wide variety of ales at Colne Muni.

Pendleside Hospice will benefit from the event, and organiser Martyn Pashley said of the 130 beers on offer, 110 had been sponsored at £40 a barrel, all of which will go to the charity.

And festival organiser Martyn Pashley said: “That means they will have about £4,000 before we even started.

“I am hoping to top the £6,500 raised from last year’s event.”

Mr Pashley said the event had started well and he was confident of another good day today.

He said: “We had a good start on Thursday and we were busy yesterday.

“We get a lot of people travelling in from the outlying areas on the Friday for a quiet session during the day.

“Then at night it all got a lot livelier with music from Emmot and the Folkestra providing quite a different atmosphere.”

Last year the fun had to stop early when the beer ran out, but Mr Pashley said extra beer had been ordered in to prevent that happening again.

He said: “Hopefully the beer will last right through. Last year every drop had gone so we have got more in this year.

“We have got 40 barrels waiting to go up fresh today.”

Mr Pashley continued: “Everyone is really pleased with the way it has gone so far.

“We have 12 local breweries in East Lancashire and they are all represented.

“Drinkers in this region really are spoilt for choice these days, which is excellent.

“I would like to thank everyone who has helped in the event, especially those who help set up and take down.”