This weekend: Dulcimer Ale and Cider Festival and Dock Bar’s Beerfest

Chorlton’s Dulcimer brings the Bank Holiday cheer with a four-day festival of the best beers, ciders and perries from across the country. What else are the long weekends for? Kicking off on Friday at 5pm, just as you finish work for three glorious days, choose from over 30 lovingly chosen alcoholic drinks from the best micro breweries from around the country – including Hawkshead, The Moss Cider Project and Thornbridge. Accompanying the libations will be four days of musical delights: Friday sees HOT RATS take to the decks with their own brand of psych, tropicalia, krautrock and ska; Saturday welcomes a live set upstairs from Tom Edney followed by a DJ performance from local legend Gumbo Ya Ya; and Stilts Foster plays live on Sunday evening before Family Affair DJs take you into Bank Holiday Monday with the best in ghetto beats, rare funk and heavy soul. The festival continues on Monday with a slow day of tasting before the Dulcimer’s Inn-Quizition (8pm) but you may not be able to think by that point. What’s more, the first 50 people upstairs each day will be given free ale tokens – so make sure you get their early. And stay up very late. It’s going to be a long weekend.

If you can’t make it to Chorlton but still want some tasty beer then head to MediaCityUK’s Dock Bar (pictured) for their own beer festival, elaborately named Beerfest. As MediaCity’s only bar, Dock Bar intends to spoil you for choice with over 20 different beers, stouts and lagers from the likes of Brew Dog, Hornbeam and Marble – plus free masterclass sessions including ‘Making your own beer’ and ‘Comparison between UK and American breweries’. Running from Saturday until Monday, the festival takes place alongside the Lowry Outlet Food Festival, which is aiming to bring over 100,000 people to the area.

Fri 3 – Mon 6 May, Dulcimer, 567 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton M21 0AE, FREE, www.facebook.com

Sat 4 – Mon 6 May, Dock Bar, Pier 9, Salford Quays, M50, FREE, www.facebook.com