MORE than 700 beer lovers poured into Devizes on Friday and Saturday for the biggest and best edition yet of the town's festival of winter ales.

The Corn Exchange was packed for the three sessions over the two days, which was full of beers, ciders, pies and a whole host of entertainment.

This is the third time the event, organised by Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts, best known for its International Street Festival, carnival and lantern parade, with the backing of Malcolm Shipp, of Kennet And Avon Brewery, and it was by far the most successful.

"It was just fantastic, from start to finish. Everything went perfectly. I think this is the first year when we have become an established event because it was a cracking couple of days," said Mr Shipp.

"The atmosphere was amazing. We had no trouble as usual and everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. It was such a success we almost ran out of beer on Saturday night but we managed to survive.

"The feedback we have had on social media has been staggering. There is just so much praise flying around, it really makes all the effort worthwhile.

"We only just finished the festival but already people cannot wait for the next one. The hard part now will be building on that success as this year was so good.

"The place came alive. It was such a treat being involved with it all, the entertainment was brilliant - it really could not have gone much better."

The festival began on Friday with a ticketed session from 4-11pm and the Saturday was split into two sessions from 11am-5pm and 5.30-11pm.

Some of the acts included live music, circus entertainment and stand-up comedians at the festival, which was also raising funds for DOCA.

"They do a lot of great things in the town and we are happy to help them in any way that we can," added Mr Shipp.

"We were also happy to support local breweries and send people home with a smile. It also gives us a nice bit of exposure and I just want to thank everyone who helped out as it was a real team effort - I am completely shattered."

Chairman of DOCA, Kelvin Nash, added: "Once again it was an excellent event but this year was a real standout. Everyone was so appreciative and everything just worked wonderfully well.

"Each year it has grown and this year was fantastic - the place was buzzing. We had our army of 25 volunteers who chipped in to make it even better."