How does a pub celebrate its six month birthday? With a beer festival, of course.

Diss Mercury: Peter Smith, director of the Garboldisham Fox Community Interest Company, lifting the cask off the cart. Picture: Rebecca Murphy.Peter Smith, director of the Garboldisham Fox Community Interest Company, lifting the cask off the cart. Picture: Rebecca Murphy. (Image: Archant)

Since it was acquired by a community group in 2016 The Fox Inn, Garboldisham has continued to go from strength to strength.

And now just over six months since the first pint was pulled the pub is preparing to hold it's first beer festival in 12 years.

From Thursday, June 30 to Sunday, July 2 The Fox Inn will be hosting a beer festival featuring over 22 local beers, live music and hot food.

Peter Smith, the director of the Garboldisham Fox Community Interest Company, said that the support the pub has received from community since re-opening had amazed him.

'Each weekend we go from strength to strength, the beer festival is just the icing on the cake,' he said.

'At the end of the day it's a business with 106 shareholders dotted around the village but it's not just shareholders we've got a lot of support and a lot of love within the village.'

Breweries featured at the weekend's events will include the Norfolk Cider Company. Elmtree Brewery, Grain brewery, Harleston Cider. Humpty Dumpty and Lacons, who Mr Smith said have all been very supportive of The Fox Inn.

When asked which, out of the 22 beers available he would recommend, Mr Smith found it hard to choose just one, adding: 'The whole point of a beer festival is too try something you haven't had before, we've got a few session beers so you'd probably want to start with them.'

Aside from the beers there will also be live music from local bands throughout the weekend.

On Friday, Big Fat Zero will play followed by The Racketones during Saturday afternoon and Johnny Jump in the evening from 8pm.

On Sunday Different Accents will be playing from 1.30pm.

The festival is open from 5pm - 11pm on Friday, 12pm - 11pm on Saturday and 12pm - 5pm on Sunday afternoon.

There will also be hot food available throughout the weekend.

All profits raised from the festival will go towards the planned renovations of the 250-year-old building.

Which with an estimated cost of £500,000 includes structural repairs, replacing the current concrete rendering with lime rendering and turning outbuildings into business units.