31st Great British Beer Festival

If all the London beer festivals were at a school dance, the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) would be the Queen of the ball. Organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), this annual August festival is held at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre.

Founded in 1977, over 66,000 bitter lovers walked through the 400 stalls in 2006. Over the five days, 350,000 pints of ale are usually consumed with a hearty selection of over 450 different ales to try including golden ales, fruit beers, stouts, bitters and some international real lagers.

You'd have to be a real beer nut to want to go to this but apparently there's at least 66,000 of us out there. If you're dragged along and prefer a Fosters to a Timothy Taylor there's still plenty to enjoy- live music, pub quizzes, food samples, shopping and alcohol, don't forget the free booze.