A MARKET town will come alive over the next fortnight with a series of community events to mark the 30th Baldock Festival.

Kicking off the festivities will be the Baldock Beer Festival on Friday.

This year’s festival will bring live music over the weekend, as well as 60 real ales, 30 real ciders and 10 continental lagers for people to try.

There will also be a range of hot and cold, vegetarian and barbecued food on offer.

This is a family event and there will be activities for children from 12pm until 6pm on Saturday and Sunday, including a bouncy castle and face painting.

The beer festival runs from Friday to Sunday at Brandles School, Weston Way, Baldock.

Opening times are Friday 5pm to 11pm, Saturday 12pm to 11pm and Sunday 12pm to 8.30pm.

For more information and the list of beers, bands, entertainment and food see www.baldockbeerfestival.org

Following on from the beer festival, there will be various events across the town until May 19.

Some of the events do require a ticket entry, so to purchase your ticket visit Baldock Community Centre, Simpson Drive, Baldock.

The penultimate event will be the Baldock Street Fair on Market Place, High Street, on May 18 from 10am to 4pm.

Chairman of the Baldock Festival, Bob Eversden, said: “There is plenty for everyone to enjoy, lots of entertainment and food stalls. And there will be something for all ages. We just hope that the weather stays dry so that everyone can come together and enjoy the next few weeks.”

For more details and a list of events visit www.baldockfestival.org