Stonehaven held it's first ever Real Ale Festival on the 5th and 6th November 2009.

There was doubts whether or not the event would go ahead because of the flooding which devastated Stonehaven on Sunday 2nd November.

However organiser Robert Lyndsay of The Marine Hotel decided to go ahead with the event.

This was a wise decision as over the two days over 1400 people visied the Festival with many being turned away,

The local Maritime Rescue Institute (MRI) benifited with a donation of over £3,500.

After a traumatic week helping to rescue people from their homes, the MRI were overjoyed with this contribution and the fact that the Festval brought some excitement to the town.

This video shows Robert Lyndsay talking about the Festival before it actually took place.

Plans are already underway to organise this event around the same time next year and organisers feel they may have to extend this to a 3 day event.

To keep up to date visit the Real Ale Festival website