Dancers to lug beer cart around town

Wakefield Morris Dancers heave one of the carts last year.

Wakefield Morris Dancers are making the final preparations for the third annual Ossett Beer Cart festival.

More than 100 dancers will lug carts laden with heavy beer barrels in a procession around the town, beginning at 9.45am at the Ossett Cricket and Athletics Club tomorrow.

Upon reaching the town centre precinct they will carry the first barrel into the Town Hall, marking the official opening of the beer festival.

Morris dancers will be performing in the centre throughout Saturday and between 11am and 1pm on Sunday.

And the beer festival itself will be open from 7pm until 11pm tonight and from 11am until 11pm on Saturday. An open air market will also run throughout the weekend.

John Earnshaw, chair of the beer cart organising committee says the day will raise funds for Wakefield Hospice and hopes to generate new members for the morris group. He said: “This is something unique, the only beer cart festival in the world.”