If you’re a lover of lager or real ale, then right now, Moscow is the place to be, as the city is serving up a selection of the world’s finest brews at its annual Big Beer Festival.

Russia may be more famous for its vodka than its beer, but ale aficionados in the Moscow government are trying to change all that.

The city is hosting its ninth annual Big Beer festival at the Luzhniki Stadium in the south-west of the capital, and the organisers were keen to get things off to a flying start. Thousands of revelers from around the capital headed out into the sunshine to enjoy some singing and dancing and the odd drink…or ten.  In fact, over the next nine days party-goers are expected to get through enough beer to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
 
Despite the amount of booze being knocked back, authorities say the festival is more about getting to know each other than getting drunk.
 
“The big beer festival is not an advertisement for beer producers. It is a huge holiday where we welcome our good friends on a summer evening in this wonderful environment.  It’s a time to sing a few songs and have a few drinks,” Yuri Roslyak, First Deputy Moscow Mayor explained.

And there are plenty of brands to choose from.  This year eighty-one beer manufacturers are taking part in the event.

Here are the views of some of those who turned up on the opening day.

“I’m expecting beautiful fireworks and I’m here because I love each and every beer,” a young man said.

 “I’m waiting for the evening because all the good stuff seems to happen at night,” another visitor confessed.

“I’m here to have fun, to see how everyone’s celebrating and, of course, to drink beer,” another beer-lover said.

For those who over-indulged early, there were plenty of places to sleep off a hangover. But for most, the evening was just beginning.

The festival will last till July 8.