THE future of the Barnoldswick real ale festival is up in the air after the organisers barely broke even at the first event.

Members of the East Lancashire Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) were hoping the festival, at the Queen's Hall, in Station Road, would boost the town's chances of getting into a national good beer guide.

The first ever real ale festival, which in November attracted people from as far afield as Somerset and Milton Keynes, needed more local support, organisers said.

But with around 250 visitors, compared to the 1,900 which go to the annual Pendle Real Ale festival, organisers just broke even.

They were hoping to kick start a demand for real ale in Barnoldswick, which currently has three pubs selling real ale although none have ever featured in the best-selling Good Beer Guide.

The town can still make it into the guide if the pubs selling real ale are voted in, however, entry is difficult and determined purely on the quality of the beer.

John Ingham, chairman of East Lancashire's CAMRA, said: "It was not that successful and we barely broke even.

"People came from all over the country but I am afraid we did not get any support from the locals.

"The future of the festival is up in the air.

"But we knew it was going to be an experiment and we will decide wethere we will run it again next year."

CAMRA also organises a beer festival in Colne, which has run for three years, with the next one taking place on the first Saturday of February next year.

More information can be obtained from the CAMRA website on www.camra.org.uk.

The good beer guide is Britain's longest-running and best-selling guide to the best pubs for real ale.