THE pull of a pint is expected to draw visitors to a beer festival this weekend, which will feature real ales from micro-breweries across the north of England.

The Fifth Northallerton Beer Festival at the town hall will feature 34 different cask ales, along with a range of ciders, draught lager, soft drinks and wines.

The event will donate a percentage of profits to Hambleton FoodShare and visitors are also being encouraged to drop-off items for the food bank throughout the festival.

One of the micro-breweries taking part, the School House Brewery in Darlington, will also donate £1 from every pint of beer it sells to Hope for Justice.

Another Darlington micro-brewery, the Rocket Town Brewing Company, based at the Hole in the Wall pub, will also be using the festival to launch its new ales.

Northallerton Beer Festival was initially started by Wall’s Brewing Company in Northallerton in 2011. Now it is sponsored by the company and run by Kit and Sally Dodd, Louise Walker and Craig Snaith through DWS Events.

Kit Dodd, who works for Wall’s, said: “We have got a good few handfuls of local beers, as well as from County Durham and across the North. There is so much variety it’s difficult to minimise it to about 30 casks.

“We try and support as many local businesses as possible and get people to try new beers.”

There will be live music from local bands on Friday and Saturday, including Cleveland Ukulele band.

The event will run today (Saturday, September 26), from noon to 11pm and tomorrow (Sunday, September 27), from noon to 4pm.