IT will be bangers galore when Harwich’s annual Sausage Festival returns for a day of friendly competition and delicious samples tomorrow.

The fifth annual Sausage Festival will feature nine butchers from around north Essex seeking the honour of producing the best sausage of the festival.

Following the annual sausage-throwing competition, using only out-of-date supermarket sausages, the fun moves on to Harwich’s three real ale pubs – the Hanover, the Alma Inn and the New Bell Inn.

There, visitors will be able to blind taste test bite-sized pieces of the nine competing bangers.

The event attracts hundreds of visitors and many will tour the pubs and fill in their voting forms to decide who the 2015 champion will be.

Nine competing sausage producers will be vying for the top spot, with many weird and wonderful flavours on offer.

The competitors include Warnes Butchers of Parkeston, G Page Butchers of Ramsey, Ragmarsh Farm Shop, of Manningtree, and the Alma Inn, of Harwich.

Local Tendring Campaign for Real Ale member Richard Oxborrow said: “Harwich’s Sausage Festival has become a firm favourite with locals and visitors alike, and it is amazing how far people travel to be part of it.

“It’s a fun day out in Historic Harwich, enjoying quality real ale, superb sausages and a lot of laughs.”

The sausage-throwing competition will take place between St Nicholas’ Church and the Hanover Inn, in Church Street, Harwich, starting at 11.30am.