The finishing touches are being put in place this week ahead of the opening of the 11th annual Great Yarmouth Beer & Cider Festival.

The festival is being held at St George's Theatre in King Street this weekend.

With over 3,500 pints of ale and cider to be drunk over four days before the festival closes at 3pm on Sunday, organisers are hoping for some thirsty people to attend.

The annual celebration of real ale and cider opens for its first session on Thursday evening with more than 40 real ales and 15 different ciders available.

Most of the ales and ciders have been being sourced from breweries and cider makers based in Norfolk and Suffolk giving a distinctive local flavour to this year's festival which is part of the Great Yarmouth Feastival event.

The overall event is being held over the next nine days to celebrate all things food and drink which concludes next weekend with a Food Festival and Italian Market in the market place on Friday and Saturday.

The beer and cider festival is open throughout the weekend with lunch time (11am to 3pm) and evening (5pm to 11pm) sessions on both Friday and Saturday, finishing with a lunch time 'mop up' session (11am to 3pm) on Sunday.

A strong line up live music acts starts on Friday lunchtime with Travel Back performing the best of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

On Friday evening, there are performances from Christy Bullen, a singer from Lowestoft, and Chris Pidgeon, a talented acoustic singer-songwriter from Norwich will be followed by indie rock, funk and reggae band, Mammal not Fish.

On Saturday, local acoustic duo Tiny Giants follow Great Yarmouth based vocalist/guitarist Ella Bruce in the lunchtime session and in the evening Norwich solo musicians Tom Elgie and Kolin Durier build up the tempo ahead of The Misfit Collective taking to the stage with their own mix of bluegrass, skiffle, rock and 80's pop.

Food and snacks will be available in the pavilion building next door along with a selection of alternative refreshments and, weather permitting, tables and chairs for festival goers to enjoy their food and beer outside. Entry prices vary from £3 for the lunchtime sessions, £5 for the evening sessions and £2 for Sunday's final session. For more information visit www.gytcp.co.uk