AN ever-popular winter beer festival is returning to help punters beat the January blues.

Organised by Colchester Camra, the festival runs from Wednesday, January 30, through to Sunday, February 3.

Now in its 12th year, the event has become a staple of the town's calendar, and hundreds of delighted drinks are set to attend.

Paul Duffield, publicity officer for Colchester Camra, said: "Beer festivals have been declining a bit in recent years nationally.

"A lot of pubs sell real ale now and put on their own festivals so traditional events like ours have suffered a bit.

"But that is why we are trying to do something a bit different.

"This year, with the influx of craft beers popping up across the UK, we have a new scheme where we have the same beer from the same brewery but in two different versions.

"One will be a cask and one will be a key keg version. There are five breweries taking part.

"We have also introduced vegan beers the last few years and this year for the first time we will be serving vegan food across all the days."

All in all, there will be more than 120 different varieties of beer, as well as cider, perry, wine and soft drinks for the designated drivers.

Mr Duffield said: "For this year we are going to introduce a range of more adult soft drinks for those who are driving as well.

"The winter event generally is as popular as our summer beer festival.

"Last year we had more than 1,000 people attend and we expect it to reach that again."

Partygoers often choose Saturday as their day of choice and from 7pm local rock heroes Surfquake will be performing.

"People need to shake off the January blues and the festival is a fantastic way to do it," Mr Duffield said.

"We normally get a 50/50 mix of Camra members and members of the public.

"We even have families come along and we don't turn children away.

"We don't advertise it as a family event, but kids can come in with a responsible adult."

Entry is free of charge until 3pm, after which it costs £3. The festival is open between 12noon and 10.30pm each evening.

Camra members go free of charge throughout the festival.

Donations will be collected at the festival for Prostate Cancer UK.

Visit www.beerfestivals.colchestercamra.org.uk.