PREPARATIONS are now well underway for the weekend’s Ludlow Spring Festival (May 9 and 10).

As the county’s largest beer festival 224 beers will be available including some intriguingly named brews such as Hoodwinked and Bedrock Blonde.

Around 50 small breweries from Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and Wales will be represented.

The Festival Pub will be at the centre of the festival with live music all weekend.

What started out purely as a beer festival has grown to become the main September festival’s younger sibling.

Visitors will find a host of other attractions.

More than 60 local food producers will be exhibiting, bringing with them their artisan foods and drinks.

There is also the Wot’s Cooking stage with its free talks and demonstrations from top chefs and experts.

Alan Murchison makes a welcome return to Ludlow and the Spring Festival is an opportunity to see him at work. There will also be talks on foraging, chocolate, bread and beer, as well as an Italian challenge with members of the audience.

There are also a number of master classes where visitors can take part in interactive sessions and importantly eat the dishes they make.

Workshops for children will be run by Grow Cook Learn and there will be cookery classes from KidzKitchen.

The Spring Festival would not be complete without the hundreds of classic vehicles that come to the castle each May. Whether it is a 1936 Bentley Vanden Plas, a 1970 Volkswagen split screen camper, a 1993 Vauxhall Senator police car or the original 1960 Volvo P1800, there will be plenty of interesting automotive memorabilia.