GET in the mood for summer with a cider festival at Wetherspoons.

The 17-day event will see around 30 ciders and perries at The Friar Penketh in Friars Gate and The Looking Glass in Buttermarket Street.

It runs from Friday until Sunday, July 26, with some of the drinks produced exclusively for the festival or available in the pubs for the first time.

The selection includes award-winning ciders, together with some unusual flavours like wild raspberries, whisky, marmalade, bourbon, rum, elderflower and blackberry.

Among those on offer are Orchard Pig's Marmalade Cider, Barbourne Perry Co's Painted Lady, Green Valley Cyder's Doctor's Orders, Moles Brewery's Black Rat, Rich's Cider's Legbender Cider and The Shepton Mallet Cider Mill's Somerset Fruit Forager.

The festival will be a delight for connoisseurs with one of the ciders, The Collaborators, made by French cider maker, La Ferme de Billy, in partnership with an English cider maker, Sandford Orchards

Anthony Dawick, manager at the Looking Glass, said: "The pub will be offering a superb selection of ciders, which I am confident will appeal to cider lovers and those enjoying cider for the first time."

As well as the usual pint or half pint, those wanting to sample as many as possible can enjoy three one-third pint testers for the price of a pint.

Tasting notes on all the ciders will be available in the pubs with each costing £2.30 a pint.