PREPARATIONS got under way yesterday for the beer festival held in conjunction with the annual Spring Thing folk music event.

The Darlington branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) is hoping to sell about 4,000 pints during the folk festival. Among the 45 real ales on sale will be Liquid Lobotomy, brewed in East Yorkshire, and Baa-Chanalia, from Cumbria.

There will also be beers from Tyneside, Durham and Hambleton on offer, and a special beer will be launched called Darlington Supporters' Trust.

Darlington Camra chairman Ian Jackson said: "We have scoured Britain for interesting and rare beers from some of the best craft brewers around.

"There will be tastes and names to tackle the palate and imagination."

The beer festival opens on Thursday, from 7pm to 11pm, Friday, from noon until 3pm, and Saturday, from 11.30am until 11.30pm.

The Spring Thing festival starts tomorrow.