There are always plenty of real ale festivals going on up and down the UK if you know where to look for them and the imminent Bank Holiday break is particularly festival-rich with the couple of weeks afterwards not looking too shabby, either.

For a start, National Cask Ale Week kicks off on Monday April 6th and runs through to the 13th. With some heavyweight support from the likes of CAMRA, Cask Marque and the IFBB, this one will hopefully grab a few headlines and help raise the general profile of our tipple of choice. Hundreds of pubs are taking part in a code number text-in prize sweepstake (for those who can remember how to send a text message after a few pints of the good stuff).

There will also be a Beer Festival during the Chester Food and Drink Festival over the weekend of April 9th – 11th. Over 40 lagers and beers (no list on the website as yet) will be on offer at Boughton Hall Cricket Club.

No sooner does NCAW end than the UK’s near-ubiquitous pub chain, Wetherspoon’s, kicks off its own International Real Ale Festival which runs from April 15th through to May 4th.

Say what you like about JDW’s impact on the pub trade and their recent 99p pint shenanigans, it’s still good to see a choice of (potentially) 50 beers on offer, especially at their generally very reasonable prices. After the vague disappointment of back in October I plan to follow the sage advice offered at the time (see comment #7) and make sure I head for a better Manchester outlet this time around. I’ll be scouring the beer list and picking out a few choice targets nearer the time.

Although if you’d prefer something a little quieter and rather more eclectic, then a little further down the line you could try the Welsh Highland Railway’s Rail Ale Festival instead. (My Dad would love this one – a chance to sup real ale whilst riding on a steam train and snapping photos of the Welsh mountains? Heaven!) Not sure how many different beers will be offer, but they’re promising even more than last year, so that’s got to be good.

More info on all the above via the embedded links.