BEER drinkers in Redditch will be celebrating in the new year with the arrival of an ale festival for the first time in more than 20 years.

The event, on January 13 and 14, is being organised by the Redditch and Bromsgrove Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), which has run the successful Bromsgrove Beer Festival for three years.

Branch chairman Stuart Dench said: "Everyone has asked us why we don't have a Redditch beer festival - the last one was held in 1982 in the Abbey Stadium, and now we will do just that.

"This is great news for the people of Redditch and beyond."

Mr Dench said The Redditch Winter Ales Festival would feature stronger and darker ales.

Along with seasonal beers, a great range of pale and golden ales, cider and perry will be on offer.

The news follows the recently published 2006 CAMBRA Good Beer Guide that reveals the Redditch area as one of the best for beers and ciders in the UK.

According to the organisation, business is booming with a record number of new breweries being recorded by the guide.

Editor Roger Protz said the guide lists more than 80 new breweries, almost twice as many as in the previous year.

He said: "The spate of new micro breweries and the booming regional sector prove there is no 'real ale' crisis."

Mr Protz added: "In spite of the best efforts of the global brewers which dominate British brewing, there is greater choice today than at any time since the Good Beer Guide was first published in the early 1970s."

Mr Dench said: "I am delighted to report an increase in the availability and quality of cask ales and ciders nationally and in our area."

The Redditch Winter Ales Festival will be at Centre Point in Ipsley Street and costs £2 entry.