PUNTERS have the opportunity to get steaming at the 16th Annual Real Ale Festival held on Minehead Railway Station which takes place on the weekend of September 12-13.

The popular festival is organised by the Somerset branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and will feature more than 100 examples of the best of British cask conditioned ales on sale.

Amongst the beers on sale at the festival will be the products of the award-winning independent breweries of the Taunton area and West Somerset including Cotleigh, Exmoor, Kubla, North Curry, and Quantock, plus some of those brewed especially for Dunster Beach.

In addition to the cask ales there will also be cider and perry on sale plus non-alcoholic drinks and food will also be available including a Saturday night hog roast, courtesy of the Yarn Market Hotel of Dunster.

For the first time the Minehead station Turntable Café will also stay open into the evening.

The festival opening hours are 11am to 11pm on Saturday and 12pm until 4 pm on Sunday.

Saturday evening entertainment will be provided by the band “Time Travellers” and Sunday lunchtime features the return of the Tone Valley Jazz Band for their ever-popular afternoon of good music.

West Somerset Railway General Manager Paul Conibeare commented “The Real Ale Festival is one of the most popular events in our annual calendar and brings many passengers to the Railway and also many visitors who stay in Minehead for the weekend and make it part of their break. Our partnership with Somerset CAMRA is a long-established one and we are looking forward to another successful weekend.”

The West Somerset Railway is running full train services on both days including extra Saturday night trains. Advance train travel tickets can be purchased from www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk or 01643 704996 and CAMRA members can obtain a discount on return travel from Bishops Lydeard. Tickets can also be purchased on the day of travel.