The ale is flowing at this year’s Durham Beer Festival with the first pint pulled for no less than the city’s Mayor, councillor Lesley Mavin.

A brief opening ceremony overseen by the chairman of the organisers, the Durham branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, Paul Dobson, backed by the Mayor and her Mayoress, Trish Sutcliffe, saw proceedings get underway at the city’s 41st celebration of real ale, on Wednesday afternoon (August 30).

The Northern Echo:

It heralded the opening session of the annual four-day festival, staged in recent years at the clubhouse of Durham City Rugby Club, at its Hollow Drift ground, off Green Lane.

Visitors can expect up to 25 different real ales to be on offer at any one time, plus eight ciders and perries.

Read more: Durham's Mayor to ceremonially pull first pint at city's beer festival

The beer has been supplied by producers from as far afield as central Scotland to Salisbury in Wiltshire, but with many favoured local breweries featuring heavily, including Big Lamp and Hadrian Border, of Newcastle, Caps Off, of Bishop Auckland, Consett, Durham and Hill Island from the host city, Darwin and North Pier, from Sunderland, Maxim, of Houghton-le-Spring, Three Kings, of North Shields, McColl’s from Evenwood, Hopper House, of Sedgefield, George Samuel, from Shildon, Yard of Ale, at Ferryhill Station, and GNEB, of Team Valley.

The Northern Echo:

As and when stocks run dry, there are back up beers ready to replace them to ensure as wide a choice until the closing day.

Although no awards were presented at the festival to the various category winners of favoured hostelries in the branch area, the accolades have already been announced as going to Ye Old Elm Tree, in Durham, as City Pub of the Year, The Grey Horse at Consett, as Town Pub of the Year, and to the Surtees Arms, of Ferryhill Station, as Country Pub of the Year.

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The open session was said to have been well attended with the beer to continue flowing between noon and 10.30pm on each day until Saturday (September 2).

Entry is by wristband system, with a colour code designated for each day, and payment at the bar is by pre-purchased tokens, equating to one per half pint for all but the strongest of the beers on offer.

Further details are available via Facebook, on /CAMRADurhamBeerFestival, Twitter, @durhambeerfest2, or via www.durhambeerfestival.org.uk/, the event website.