The 2001 Southampton Beer Festival, the fifth, will take place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday 21, 22, 23 June. More than 70 beers will be on offer for the 3000 customers who are expected to attend.

The Thursday evening preview session will include the judging of the Champion Beer of Hampshire. With an increasing number of breweries in the county, Hampshire Brewery's Pride of Romsey will have a tough fight to retain its title.

The entertainment will be from Skimmington Ride on Friday evening, the Riverside Jazz Band on Saturday lunchtime and local soul legends Rufus Stone on Saturday evening.

Festival organiser Rob Whatley said, "This will be the fifth year that the beer festival has been held at the Guildhall and we are confident that this year's event will be the best yet. The Thursday evening preview session was a great success last year and so will be repeated. The festival attracts customers of all ages and one of the main features of last year was the increased number of younger customers who were attending their first beer festival. The high proportion of female customers was also mentioned in customer feedback. After the great success of last year's event it is suggested that customers buy their tickets in advance to avoid disappointment."

Tickets are on sale now. For ticket details contact Alex on 023 8055 1878 or visit www.shantscamra.org.uk.