A POPULAR beer festival made a return at the weekend.

Following the first successful day-long event in 2019, the Henshaws Beer Festival returned to Knaresborough for a full weekend with an even bigger and better offering.

Festival goers supped over 4,000 drinks across the two days. As the sun shone, Henshaws welcomed more than 850 people to the Arts and Crafts Centre to enjoy the range of 21 handpicked beers, as well as a range of gins, wines and cider, all proudly produced in Yorkshire.

Henshaws is a charity that supports disabled people in Yorkshire to achieve their ambitions and go beyond expectations.

Fundraising development manager, Helen Donkin, said: “A real local gem, the Arts and Crafts Centre - available to hire for celebrations and events year-round - offers a unique setting in the heart of Knaresborough.

"It was a pleasure to be able to open our doors for our first large fundraising event in 3 years, welcoming friends old and new to share our special and inspiring space, whilst raising vital funds to support those living with sight loss and other disabilities.

"As a small fundraising team we reply on the support of our fantastic volunteers to deliver our programme of events. If you’d like to find out more about getting involved and supporting a local charity through volunteering, joining as a Friend or taking on a challenge in aid of Henshaws we’d love to hear from you.”

Local breweries Cold Bath Brewing, Daleside, Harrogate Brewing, Roosters and Turning Point joined forces to help cement this fantastic annual event, which included an eclectic live music mix including 18 different acts across two stages.

Pop up vendors tempted taste buds, serving a wonderful selection of freshly cooked food from Mexican to Italian and lots in between. With hook a dook, face painting, glitter tattoos, hair braiding, a photo booth and Painting Pots creating a sprinkling of magic on site, there was fun for kids of all ages.

The five breweries collaborated to make something extra special for the event, allowing Festival goers an opportunity to trial Henshaws specially brewed for 2022 ‘Visu-ale’, with a public competition to name the beer.

The event was made possible by the superb support of a range of sponsors and partners, including title sponsor Berwins Solicitors.

Martin Whincup, head of marketing at Berwins, said: “We were delighted to be associated with this popular event as it returns from a pandemic enforced absence. This festival represents a fantastic opportunity to come together as a community and to raise money for a very important cause – Berwins is proud to support the work of Henshaws in this way.”

In less than a month the Arts & Crafts Centre will bring the Festival feel back, with the return of BedFest on June 11 with live music, food and drink from midday to 11pm.

Advance adult tickets are available for £5 at www.henshaws.org.uk and kids go free.