A BEER festival is set to take place with a special theme to commemorate a landmark anniversary for a church.

The Harwich and Dovercourt Winter Ale Festival will take place from Wednesday, November 16, to Saturday, November 19.

The event kicked off in Kingsway Hall, Dovercourt, on Wednesday, November 16 at 5pm, it will then run from Thursday to Saturday from 11am to 11pm.

A spokesman for the event said: “The theme is the 200th anniversary of Saint Nicholas church with money raised going to the restoration of the church’s stonework.

“Because of the theme, Paul Mellor of the Harwich Town Brewing Company has brewed his Belgian style Sint Niklaas which will be at the festival in an oak cask, the cask went in on Tuesday.

There will be a wide range of real ales, ciders, perries and bottled beers.

Colin Cheesman, chairman of the organising committee, added: “Harwich’s St Nicholas Church is an iconic building both from the land and from the sea and it was consecrated in 1822.

“The committee were unanimous in agreeing that the bicentenary is the perfect choice of theme for this year’s Harwich beer festival.”

For more information on the festival visit bit.ly/3AnJnX1.