Preparations are gearing up for the third Great Yarmouth Winter Beer and Cider Festival and Mercury readers can now snap up discount tickets.

The festival will be held in St George’s Theatre between Friday, December 1 and Sunday, December 3.

Advance tickets for all sessions are available through the St George’s Theatre booking office and Yarmouth Mercury readers can get £1 off all advance tickets by entering “Mercurybeer17” when booking on line at www.stgeorgestheatre.com or by quoting the same code over the phone or in person to the box office on 01493 331484.

The discount code will only be active until midnight on Sunday.

This is the third seasonal version of the festival that has been held in the spring for the last ten years and the first year it has been held in December when it opens for the first session at 11am on Friday, December 1.

Festival organisers have ordered in a mouth watering selection of over forty different real ales and ciders selecting them from a range of local and national brewers. Great Yarmouth brewers Lacons and Tombstone are both represented at the festival along with a number of other breweries from Norfolk and Suffolk including Adnams, Panther, Tindall, St. Peters and Winters.

The Winter Beer and Cider Festival will also be making good use of the stage and sound facilities that St George’s Theatre offers with some great bands and musicians booked to appear over the weekend.

On Friday night The Uncalled Four will be playing old school rhythm and blues as they headline while The Uninvited will take to the stage on the Saturday evening playing their wide range of covers from the 70’s to the present including Bon Jovi, Fleetwood Mac, Pink, Foo Fighters and Reo Speedwagon to name just a few.

The Theatre Pavilion Cafe will be open throughout the festival providing a range of food and snacks plus a range of alternative alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

The festival will be open for both lunchtime sessions (11am to 3pm) and evening sessions (5pm to 11pm) on the Friday and the Saturday. It finishes with afternoon session (11am to 4pm) on the Sunday. Tickets available on the door for all sessions. £3 for lunchtime sessions and £5 for the evening sessions. The Sunday session is £2 entry.