REAL ale connoisseurs can prepare themselves for the annual dash as organisers release tickets for next year’s Ilkley Beer Festival.

A huge 18,000 pints of beer have been ordered for the February 6-7 event, and demand for tickets to one of the three sessions, held in the historic Kings Hall and Winter Garden, is bound to be high when they go on sale on Saturday morning, December 6.

Expectations are high that the Ilkley Round Table-organised event can match the thousands of pounds it has raised in previous years for local causes. Entertainment will be provided by Leeds Male Voice Choir and a brass band.

Tickets for the 2015 festival will be on sale in the Winter Garden on Saturday, December 6, from 9am until noon. Any unsold tickets will then be available from The Flying Duck in Ilkley. Tickets are priced at £5 for Saturday afternoon and £7.50 for Friday and Saturday night. Postal tickets, limited to four per application, should be sent to: Ilkley Round Table, c/o Sagars, Gresham House, 5-7 St Pauls Street, Leeds LS1 2JG. They must include a stamped addressed envelope and should state the session required.