ONE of Halstead’s most popular pubs is set to hold its annual beer festival at the end of this month.

The Griffin, on Parsonage Street, will open its doors for the four day event which will feature a wide range of beers and entertainment.

This year’s event, for the first time, will also feature street food.

Bar manager Gilly Ryan is on the hunt to stock the beer festival with well known favourites, and some further afield beers which are sure to have you taste buds tingling.

She said: “We will have a selection of beers from all across the country.

“Beer is my passion so I am having a great deal of fun choosing beers from breweries all across over the place, there has been lots of tasting and sampling which is never a bad thing.

“There will be something for everybody.

“We try not to repeat beers, so we are looking at all styles of beer from all styles of breweries and find some that we have never had before.

“I have had lots of special requests already but there should be some surprises.

“One of the best things about beer festivals is trying beers you haven’t before, we will make up a booklet of tasting notes so people can feel like they are making an informed decision.

“Last year proved pretty popular, we had several hundred people there at any one time so hopefully we can repeat that success." 

The weekend will be full of live entertainment, good food and an ample amount of alcohol. 

Mrs Ryan added: “We will put a marquee up in the car park, on the Friday night we are planning a hog roast, and on the Saturday we are doing Shish Kebabs.

“We normally have a huge range of bar snacks but don’t cook any food so we thought we would try something a bit different this year with a bit of street food.

“We are just hoping for some good weather, the patio is a fantastic place to enjoy a pint and a few nibbles in the sunshine so fingers crossed.”

The beer festival will run from Thursday, September 29 to Sunday, October 2.

There will be live music on both the Friday and Saturday night.