A GIN festival is set to take place in Southampton this week.

Gin Festivals UK will be hosting a “garden party” style festival at Southampton Guildhall on Saturday, May 6.

The indoor event will showcase hundreds of liquor samples for attendees to try.

The event, sponsored by Franklin and Sons, gives enthusiasts and first-time gin drinkers the opportunity to try a range of varieties of the popular spirit.

Attendees can participate in a host of events including gin talks, presentations and cocktail demonstrations. There will also be live entertainment.

Director of Gin Festivals UK, Clint Stephenson said: “We initially started as a local event celebrating our appreciation of the good stuff and our city’s gin heritage in Plymouth.

“It then took us on a journey to become the fastest-growing liquor festival in the country.

“Our events gather the finest gins from around the world, have them served by expert ginsmiths in beautiful surroundings, and throw in some quality entertainment for good measure.

“In a little over three months we hosted in 17 different venues across the country, showcasing 120 different gins and over 15,000 people joined us.”

For those new to the world of gin or looking to try something different from their usual, all guests receive a complimentary GinBible, listing more than 100 gins to help attendees decide what to choose from the bar.

Guests will receive free goodie bags and the trade stands will be selling bottles of their wares to take home.

“We’ve got some excellent entertainment planned for the Southampton event and, of course, plenty of gin and innovative cocktails to try.

“The festival is the perfect place to come with family and friends for a day or an evening that’s different from the usual run of the mill outings,” said Clint.

Tickets for the Southampton Gin Festival are on sale now, with daytime or evening slots available to purchase. To purchase a ticket for the 18-and-over event, call: 023 8063 2601