Gins ranging from the well known tipples to those lesser known varieties are to be at the centre of an amazing festival at a village pub over Easter.

For the Bear Inn, at Beyton, is staging the event with a selection of 21 different varieties on offer.

There will be house gins plus premier gins to tickle the tastebuds and there is also the chance to take part in a special taste challenge.

Owners Garry and Hannah Clark are behind the venture which is taking place on Good Friday, March 30, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, March 31, April 1 and 2.

A special marquee is being set up in the grounds of the pub in Tostock Road with the festival running each day between noon and 8pm along with a barbeque and hog roast on the Sunday.

Hannah said: “We were talking about how popular gins have become and it’s still growing as a product with the amount of different ones available and people’s interest in it.

“It’s almost like the new ale and if it’s so interesting why not put that together with our experience of running beer festivals.”

For as little as £4.50 you can taste one of the seven house gins including Gordons, Bombay Sapphire, Adnams Copper House, Tanqueray Export Strength London Gin, Plymouth, Beefeater London Dry or J J Whitley Elderflower which all come in a 25ml glass with a tonic.

Or for the more adventurous at £5.50 there are the wonderfully named premium gins of Sharish Blue Magic which magically changes from blue to pink with the addition of tonic; Brockmans, infused with 10 botanicals and distilled in a 100-year-old still; Sipsmith, a traditional London dry gin; Monkey 47, given the name from 47 Black Forest herbs, berries and exotic Asian botanicals; from the island of Islay The Botanist; and the aptly named Drumshanbo Gunpowder, an Irish tipple with fresh citrus notes that is distilled in a medieval copper still.

Then there’s the chance to take part in the challenge where 12 different gins have been matched against each other.

For £7.50 you could try Adams Copper House against Adnams First Rate or even keep it local with Suffolk Gin against Norfolk Gin … all contained in a 25ml glass along with a tonic.

To purchase tickets for the festival, which cost £7.50 pre booked and £10 on the day, go to the pub’s website www.thebearinnbeyton.co.uk