At the time of writing, the rain lashing against the window makes the thought of ever venturing outside again seem distinctly uninviting.

However, if previous years are anything to go by, winter won’t last forever and, when it comes, the warmer weather will be accompanied by the festival season.

This week, we’ve already pointed you towards the North Hop craft beer bash taking place in Edinburgh Assembly Rooms on Saturday.

Street food

You might also want to make a note of this year’s first Old Town Street Food Festival taking place in the courtyard of the Three Sisters in Edinburgh.

Taking place on Sunday 27 March, and then again on Sundays 1 and 29 May, the organisers promise gourmet street food stalls; craft beer pop-up bars, some twenty plus live bands on two stages as well as a DJ set into the night.

As we mentioned last week, another festival to look out for around this time is the Glasgow Restaurant Festival 25 March-17 April. Special menus, master classes and a series of pop-ups in a gorgeous old Spiegeltent on Candleriggs are in the diary.

Wild imperial stout

Getting back on the ale, Edinburgh’s Stewart Brewing (the video shows their Craft Brewing Kitchen in action) are hosting Edinburgh Beer Festival on Saturday 16 April. As well as unveiling their own wild imperial stout, the brewers promise collaborations with the Lake District’s Hawkshead, Stirlingshire’s Fallen and Oregon’s Crux Fermentation.

Live music, pizza, pulled pork, pakoras and veggie options all add to the appeal.

As always, CAMRA also have a packed schedule of beer festivals. Over the next few months, beer lovers can look forward to the Larbert Real Ale Festival (1-2 April); Paisley Beer Festival (20-23 April) and the Kingdom of Fife Real Ale, Cider & Perry Festival which takes place in Rothes Hall, Glenrothes on 21-23 April.

More dates for the diary tomorrow.