Fine hand-crafted real ales and excellent music will draw connoisseurs to Broadstairs Beer Festival this weekend.

The festival is a new event at The Pavilion in Harbour Street, starting at noon on Friday and running until Sunday.

The kmfm team will be there to help celebrations along at a cracking pace, with Myma Seldon broadcasting live from the festival from 10am on Friday.

Thanet breakfast presenter Johnny Lewis will also be at the event.

Visitors can pay just £2 for a wristband for the whole event, which will showcase a wealth of ales and some of the hottest local bands.

Breweries will include Gadd's, the Ramsgate Brewery, Adnams from Norfolk and Caledonian brewery Heineken.

There will be other guest beers varying from easy-drinking ales with alcohol levels of three/four per cent to stronger brews with six per cent alcohol, and possibly draught ciders.

Long-established east Kent favourites Hullaballoo will play at 8pm on Friday.

Broadstairs-based Hot Rats will be on stage at 2pm on Saturday with the distinctive folk-rock sound that ensures they are favourites at the annual folk week, and a lead act at many ceilidhs.

Blues band Broken Biscuit, from Thanet, headed by Nigel Fiest who organised the recent Broadstairs weekend blues festival, will play on Saturday at 8pm.

On Sunday at noon, there will be a free wired session giving musicians who turn up with their instruments a chance to get together and make music on stage. The event finishes at 5pm.

Pavilion general manager Mac Towe said a lot of interest has been shown in the festival.

He said: "I think it is important to have events like this in Broadstairs out of season. We had a mini beer festival during Folk Week and that went down very well, so hopefully this one will prove a big success.

"Beer enthusiasts are really keen on hand-crafted products like these ales, they go out of their way to find niche markets."

• For more details call The Pavilion on 01843 600999, visit www.broadstairsbeerfestival.co.uk or www.pavilion-broadstairs.co.uk