They already have a wealth of information about some of the best places to visit within the city.

And now Norwich's city hosts will be able to point people in the direction of some the area's finest real ale pubs.

More than 20 volunteer hosts were given a masterclass in all things beer yesterday in preparation for this month's City of Ale Festival.

The event is expected to attract people from across the UK to Norwich as they seek out some of the best brews our region has to offer.

Dawn Leeder, co-chairman of City of Ale, said: 'We thought it would be a good idea to have a seminar for the city hosts so we could train them up about the beers, breweries and pubs in Norwich.

'They are the first point of contact for people who might not know the city very well and each one can interact with 75 visitors per day. So you are getting through to an enormous amount of people.'

The hour-and-a-half-long seminar took place at St Andrews Brew House and taught the hosts all they needed to know about the event.

It also covered the 46 pubs and 36 breweries taking part in the event, which is on from May 26 to June 5.

During that time the volunteer hosts will be visible around the city wearing their 'here to help' tabards six-days-a-week.

They are funded through the Norwich Business Improvement District (BID), which is also sponsoring this year's festival.

Rachael Fretter, from BID, said: 'The seminar was really useful, especially for the people who are not pub goers and don't necessarily drink ales.'

There will be more than 230 events taking place at various locations around the city throughout the festival period. During that time people will have the chance to sample some 250 beers from breweries across Norfolk and Suffolk.

Organisers have also created ale trails for the thousands of beer lovers to follow, with programmes and maps being kept at various pubs in the city.

For more information about the event, visit www.cityofale.org.uk/2016 or to become a city host visit www.norwichbid.co.uk

Are you organising a community event? Call Luke Powell on 01603 772684 or email luke.powell@archant.co.uk