BLACK Country real ale fans are encouraging people to visit their local pubs as part of the Great British Beer Festival which kicks off today (Friday July 30).

The Stourbridge & Halesowen branch of CAMRA is urging beer lovers to enjoy the Great British Beer Festival at Your Local, which runs until August 8, after more than a year of Covid restrictions that have hit the hospitality trade hard.

In the absence of a single Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) event this year due to coronavirus, CAMRA has been encouraging licensees to hold events and activities celebrating real beer and cider to encourage footfall to pubs and clubs and increase demand for brewers and cider-makers.

The festival is Britain's biggest beer festival and has in previous years been held at London's Olympia.

This year though with large-scale live events only just starting to get going again after a year of lockdowns, CAMRA is hoping beer and cider lovers will turn out locally and support independent and local businesses as the industry starts to come back to life.

Steve Pratt, press officer for the Stourbridge & Halesowen branch of CAMRA, said: “We hope several pubs will be involved in this promotion, including those (like Black Country Ales, Beat Brewery and other independent pubs) which regularly have a range of beers on tap."

“We’re delighted to be able to bring the Great British Beer Festival to the pubs, clubs and breweries that have worked so hard to stay afloat in the toughest of years.

"We hope beer and cider lovers alike will make their way down to their local to celebrate in whatever way they can, be that trying a brand new tipple, learning first-hand from brewers or attending their local mini festival.

“This is a great opportunity to raise a glass to all the brilliant publicans, staff members and patrons that have helped the beer, cider and pub industry to survive throughout the pandemic.

"Though we can’t get together at London Olympia for the second year running, we hope people will take to their locals to get involved with the GBBF at Your Local experience."