THE Harwich Sausage Festival is returning next month with three new fringe venues being added alongside the town’s great real ale pubs.

The event will take place on Saturday, November 2, with nine different sausages up for tasting in the Alma, New Bell and Stingray pubs.

Visitors to the festival are asked to taste all nine in a blind tasting and place them in order of preference on voting forms while enjoying real ales before the champion sausage is announced at about 3pm in the New Bell.

This year, 'fringe' sausages will also be available in the Globe, the Crown Post, Home of the Hanny, and the Samuel Pepys.

Joint festival co-ordinator Colin Cheesman said: “The Harwich Sausage Festival is going from strength to strength and now attracts visitors from far and wide, as well as being a firm favourite with local residents.

"The winning sausage will go on to the national event so there is a lot at stake for the butchers taking part.”

The event will start in the Stingray at 11am before the sausage procession to Harwich Green at 11.15am.

Quality - The New Bell Inn, as shown in 2022 serves real quality ales as well as sausagesQuality - The New Bell Inn, as shown in 2022 serves real quality ales as well as sausages (Image: Submitted)

The famous sausage throwing competition - using out-of-date supermarket bangers - will take place at 11.30am before the tasting begins at 12 noon.

Spokesman Richard Oxborrow said: “The nine participating butchers all took part last year so we know how high the quality of the entries will be.

“It will take a truly wonderful sausage to win the title and I’m sure that a lot of quality real ale will be consumed as voters give a lot of thought to their choice.  It is going to be another wonderful quirky event in historic Harwich.”

The year competing butchers include Smiths Butchers of Brightlingsea, Pier Avenue Butchers of Clacton, Shaws Farm Meats of Dovercourt and Manningtree Markets, Becky's Butchers of Great Bromley, Frinton Road Butchers of Holland-on-Sea, Chas Bower of Holland-on-Sea, Ragmarsh Farm Shop of Manningtree, Ramsey Master Butchers of Ramsey and Wallis's Farm Shop of Tendring.

For further information, contact Richard Oxborrow on 07920 874706