ALTON’S Winter Beer Festival take places at Alton College this month – under new management.

After running 25 successful festivals in Alton, Peter and Ysanne Legg stood down last summer to hand over the reins to a team of five trustees – Andy Rickards, Louise Parker, Frank Norris, Lisa Hillan, and Nigel Hoppitt.

Louise said: “No-one wanted that to be the end of what has become one of the regular highlights in the Alton calendar, not only because of the great fun both punters and volunteers have over two weekends each year, but also because of the impact the proceeds from each festival have had on local charities.”

The trustees have been meeting regularly over the last few months to ensure everything is in place for the next festival. A couple of them have even taken on the difficult task of sampling different beers, while one member has been sprucing up a van belonging to longstanding event sponsor Triple fff brewery at Four Marks.

Being a winter festival, there will be a good selection of both dark and light beers and, due to popular demand, a gluten-free craft beer, as well as vegetarian and vegan beer.

More than 100 beers and ciders will be available over the course of the three sessions, many of them from local breweries, and there will be people on hand to provide advice and guidance so that everyone can find a few different options to suit their taste.

Louise continued: “A core ethos to the Alton Beer Festival is supporting the local community. As well as providing local beer and cider, the food is sourced through local suppliers, the majority of the bands are local and, most importantly, the money raised all goes to local charities.”

In 2015, the winter and summer festivals raised more than £20,000 which was donated to a number of good causes, ranging from cancer charities to Scout groups and from surgeries requiring replacement specialist equipment to disabled individuals raising funds for specialised wheelchairs.

More than 100 volunteers give their time and energy for free over the weekend.

Louise added: “Many of the volunteers initially got involved as a result of their charity receiving a donation from the beer festival in the past but have continued to support the festivals due to the great atmosphere, and they come back year after year to help serve the punters.

“It is thanks to this army of people that the punters are able to enjoy themselves while at the same time raising money for local charities.”

This year’s beer festival runs from February 19-20 and the trustees are already receiving requests for donations.

To buy tickets, visit altonbeerfestival.org.uk.