Paisley’s ever-popular festival of real ale will be back for another four days this April – and this year it’s again being served up with a side order of food.

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The Paisley Beer Festival – the biggest in Scotland – is set to bring thousands of ale-lovers into Paisley Town Hall between Wednesday 20 and Saturday 23 April.

For their 29th year, organisers from the Renfrewshire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) will again offer up more than 300 real ales, beers, ciders and wines from Scotland, the UK and abroad.

And this year’s event will be joined by a one-day Paisley Food Festival run by Renfrewshire Council, making a return after attracting 5,000 people in 2015.

The free outdoor event in Abbey Close will run from noon until 9pm on Saturday 23 April with a still-to-be-announced programme of street food from across the globe, cookery demonstrations, live music and children’s entertainment.

Confirmed attractions for the day include Paisley Farmers’ Market and a Caribbean rum shack, which will add a touch of carnival atmosphere.

For this year’s beer festival, Renfrewshire CAMRA is helping to mark the 70th anniversary of the Paisley Pirates ice hockey team, with the local club set to feature on the pint glass issued to all visitors as part of their entrance fee.

And to mark this, Renfrewshire’s Provost Anne Hall donned a Paisley Pirates jersey when she met with beer festival organisers and representatives of their sponsors – the Bon Accord pub in Glasgow – to promote both events.

Provost Hall said: “The Paisley Beer Festival is a wonderful success story for Paisley and Renfrewshire, and is now just one year shy of its 30th year.

“Every year it brings thousands of visitors into the town centre and a huge amount of credit goes to the hard-working team at Renfrewshire CAMRA for making it happen.

“This year they are helping to shine the spotlight on another great local institution with a long history in the town – as the Paisley Pirates reach their 70th year.

“Last year saw the council launch a food festival as a way of complementing the beer festival and it had such a great turnout and atmosphere we decided to do it again.

“As we move forward with the town’s bid for UK City of Culture 2021 it is important we take all opportunities to invite the rest of Scotland to come to our events, enjoy the experience, and find out more about what Paisley has to offer.”

Entry for the beer festival will again be £6 for visitors and £4 for CAMRA members and more information about the event is on Renfrewshire CAMRA’s Twitter feed at @PaisleyBeerFest

Derek Moore, CAMRA Renfrewshire founder and manager of the Paisley Beer Festival 2016 said: “Everyone at the Renfrewshire Branch of CAMRA is working hard to ensure another great event takes place at Paisley Town Hall next month.”

Derek, who is also owner of the award-winning Kelburn Brewery, added: “Renfrewshire CAMRA acknowledges the support from Renfrewshire Council to make this Scotland’s biggest real festival, attracting so many visitors to the town for a quality experience.”

Paisley Pirates’ coach Ian Turley commented: “We were really delighted when CAMRA asked us if they could use the theme of Pirates’ 70th birthday during their annual festival.

“And to have Renfrewshire Council, who already support the club in a number of ways, coming forward to back the occasion only enhances the event even further.”