AN annual beer and cider festival will be making its return to Maldon.

The 19th Maldon Beer and Cider festival will be held in the Cygnet Room at the Swan Hotel Bar and Grill, in Maldon High Street.

There is a poignant element to this year’s festival, as it commemorates 80 years since the D-Day landings during the Second World War.

The festival will run from Wednesday, April 10, to Saturday, April 13.

It will be open from 12noon to 11pm each day, with this year’s commemorative festival glass featuring the D-Day landings.

There will be 48 ales on offer, including 12 from local brewers, as well, as a dozen ciders.

'Hat Day', a feature of the Great British Beer Festival at Olympia, will also be incorporated into the Maldon Beer and Cider Festival.

Visitors are invited to wear headgear such as berets, helmets and boaters to celebrate the liberation of Europe.

This year’s festival is being sponsored by Crouch Vale Brewery, Mighty Oak Brewery and Wibblers Brewery, as well as The Cap and Feathers in Tillingham.

There will be collections for the Royal British Legion's Maldon and Heybridge branch.

The Royal British Legion provides lifelong support to serving and ex-serving personnel and their families. 

For more information about the upcoming festival, visit the CAMRA branch website at tinyurl.com/yc7dxpvw.