Cheers me dears! Beer Festival tops our weekend What's On

RAISE a glass to one of South Devon's best-loved summer events with the two-day Occombe Beer Festival on Friday, June 15 and Saturday, June 16.

More than 3,000 tickets sold in just 10 days after the festival launch, and Saturday is a sell-out.

More than 50 varieties of West Country beers are on the menu, plus local ciders, perry, Pimms, wine, and food including a hog roast and barbecues.

Extra marquees are being brought in to the Occombe Farm site to keep beer lovers dry.

Live music includes Stop Go Sixty, who recently supported McFly on their UK tour; top funk soul band Session One, who have performed at many festivals across the globe, including Glastonbury; popular local classic rock band Duke Johnson and the Scorchers; 59 Ford; Three Bags Full, Raspberry Fish, AJ & Elliot and the Quincies.

Tickets are available online at www.occombebeerfestival.co.uk , by popping in to Occombe Farm visitor centre between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Sunday, or by calling 01803 520022.

Admission is £7 for tomorrow (Saturday is a sell-out), and all festival-goers must be over 18. Photo ID is required at the event.

A festival bus service runs from The Strand, Torquay, and Paignton Bus Station, with bus tickets £1.50 each way.

Brixham's annual Trawler Race will bring crowds to the port this weekend.

The annual event takes place on Saturday, June 16.

Trawler owners and skippers will dress the boats with bunting and battle it out over two laps of Tor Bay.

Good vantage points for spectators include Brixham Breakwater and Battery Gardens.

You can soak up the race day atmosphere at any of the harbourside pubs, including the Crown and Anchor and the Long Bar.

Babbacombe Downs will come alive in the next couple of days for this year’s Babbacombe Festival.

And due to the popularity of some events it is worth booking tickets now so that you secure a place for your favourite ones.

For example, on Thursday, June 21 it’s the Real Ale Festival with a barn dance and ceilidh. Tickets can be bought in person from the bar at the Babbacombe Inn on Babbacombe Downs.

Events this week include:

Friday, June 15

Patchwork and Quilting Exhibition, Furrough Cross Church Hall, by Court Quilters, 10am to 4.30pm; also Saturday, June 16. Admission £1.

Local History Society Exhibition, St Anne’s Hall, organised by Babbacombe and St Marychurch Local History Society, 10.30am to 3.30pm.

Torbay Owls, Babbacombe Downs, 11am to 4pm.

Babbacombe Corinthian Sailing Club Regatta.

Sunday, June 17

Babbacombe Cliff Railway Fun on the Beach, 11am – Fun Tug of War.

“Festival Fayre” Craft and Food Market, St Marychurch Precinct, 10am to 4pm.

Torbay Owls on Babbacombe Downs, 11am to 4pm.

Babbacombe Corinthian Sailing Club Regatta.

Wednesday, June 20

Babbacombe Fayre, Babbacombe Downs, organised by the Rotary Club of Babbacombe & St Marychurch, 10am to 4.30pm.

Jubilee Tea, St Anne’s Hall, from 2.30pm, £3 per person.

Cricket T20, Babbacombe Cricket Club, Walls Hill. Bar, barbecue (subject to weather), children welcome, from 6pm.

Thursday, June 21

Guided Historical Walk organised by Babbacombe and St Marychurch Local History Society, Dolphin Inn, St Marychurch Precinct, 2.30pm.

Furrough Cross Flower Festival, 10am to 4pm.

Real Ale Festival with barn dance and ceilidh – barn dance and ceilidh HSBC Marquee, 7.30pm to 11.30pm.

Green Willow Clog Dancers, St Marychurch Precinct, 8pm to 9pm.

The first in a series of live productions from the National Theatre in London will be screened at Torbay’s Apollo Cinema at Paignton.

The cinema will show the acclaimed double-handed Frankenstein — which won Best Actor awards for the two leading men who alternate in the roles of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature.

The stunning production has been filmed live at the National Theatre and is being shown tonight and on Sunday at 7pm.

Enjoy a strong production of Black Coffee at the Palace Theatre in Paignton.

The eight-week run of the Agatha Christie classic is expected to see bumper crowds at the Palace Theatre.

Directed by Jill Farrant, it plays every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 7.30pm until August 2.