More than 4,000 beer lovers will pack the Passenger Shed at Temple Meads this weekend for the annual Bristol Beer Festival.

Organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), the two-day event runs today and tomorrow and showcases the best in beer from the Bristol area and around the country.

Ale enthusiasts queued around the block in February as a limited number of tickets went on sale at pubs in Corn Street and Baldwin Street.

Now they are set to be rewarded for their enthusiasm with around 120 real ales and 40 ciders on sale over four sessions.

The festival started last night with a trade and media evening, where two Bristol pubs were voted winners of CAMRA's local awards.

Taking the prize for the Bristol District Pub of the Year was the New Inn at Mayshill near Yate, while city centre pub the Seven Stars in Thomas Street was runner-up.

The popularity of the Bristol Beer Festival represents a growing passion for real ale in the area, according to event organiser and CAMRA spokesman Richard Brooks.

He said: "Demand has got so big that we can't meet it any more – it's growing by reputation because people are coming one year then telling their friends about it as well.

"But we don't want to move venue because it's such an attractive place in here and the transport links are so convenient for people.

"The real secret of its success is that all the people who work here are volunteers.

"We wouldn't be able to put on a commercial event of this size and keep ticket prices as low as we do if it wasn't for them."

Brewers and publicans at the event last night were in upbeat mood, despite a difficult time recently since the smoking ban and now a recession.

Glen Dawkins, aged 37, from Kingsdown, owns five real ale pubs in Bristol: two in Kingsdown, two in Clifton and one in St Werburgh's.

He said: "We are doing OK and real ale is the one part of the market which is growing nationally.

"We sell lots of local beer as well, which people seem to like at the moment along with locally-sourced food."

He added: "The smoking ban has not really affected us that much and things have generally gone back to how they were before the ban came in."

Business is certainly booming for the Southville-based Bristol Beer Factory, which has won several industry awards for its milk stout and which is producing more than 11,000 pints of beer a week.

Production director Simon Bartlett, 42, from Knowle, said: "We are flat out.

"We produce good beers and there are a lot of good quality pubs which want what we do, so despite the recession things are going very well.

"People are still going out drinking, they are still enjoying their beer and that's not going to change, even in a recession."