GAZETTE & HERALD: TICKETS are selling fast for the 14th annual Chippenham Beer Festival in just over a week's time.

The banners are going up around the town and real ale fans are brushing off their tankards for encounters with such heady brews as Granny Wouldn't Like It and Buffy's Norwegian Blue.

Some 800 gallons of real ale will be downed over the course of the two-day event at the Olympiad from April 22 to 23.

Organised by the North West Wiltshire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, the festival will be an opportunity for visitors to learn all about ale and enjoy the chance to sample it.

Branch secretary Ed Spearey said: "We sell lots of tickets in the last ten days. Once the banners go up people take notice."

He said they usually sold around 1,000 tickets for the Friday night, 300 for Saturday lunchtime and 500 for Saturday night.

Some 70 to 80 different types of beers will be on offer, though Mr Spearey said it was sometimes hard to pin down exactly what concoctions the smaller breweries might bring along.

Real ales from as far north as the Orkneys and as far south as Cornwall will be represented at the event.

Mr Spearey said he liked real ale because it was not fizzy, and not chilled and often was made with more natural ingredients than many modern lagers. "It's just one of those traditional English things," he said.

"Real ale doesn't have to be more natural, but it tends to be. We even have some organic beers, from the Organic Brewery."

Some 12 different sorts of ciders and perries will be on sale. Live music will be laid on for both evening sessions, with rock group the Outhouse Critics performing on the Friday and the Celebration Jazz Band on Saturday night. Sessions run 6pm to 11pm on Friday and 11am to 3.30pm and 7pm to 11pm on Saturday.

Tickets are available from the Olympiad or by enclosing an SAE and a cheque made payable to North West Wiltshire CAMRA to PO Box 2882, Chippenham, Wilts SN14 6WT.