We will write more about the Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival nearer the time but tickets are going fast so we thought we'd blog the basics.

Held in Leith Biscuit Factory for the third time, the festival will take place over Friday 24th and Saturday 25th May.

Among many others, participating breweries include 6° North, Amundsen, Firestone Walker, Lervig Aktiebryggeri and Wylam.

There will be three sessions: Friday 6pm-11pm and then, on the Saturday, 11.30am-4.30pm and 6pm-11pm. Tickets are from £45 and include all your beer, a tasting glass and programme.

The music programme and roster of pop-up kitchens have yet to be confirmed. Pic above is from festival Facebook page.

New whisky festival

A couple of weeks earlier the inaugural Highland Whisky Festival takes place from the 10th of May. Described as 'Eight days. Eight distilleries. Three hundred miles.', the event combines parts of the North Coast 500 landscape with some of northern Scotland's finest distilleries.

At the time of writing, the full details of each distillery's festival programme has not been released.

However, the idea is that each day, one of the eight distilleries will hold an open day with exclusive tastings, tours, and events.

Starting with Wolfburn on the 10th of May, the festival will continue south, via Old Pulteney (11th), Clynelish (12th), Balblair (13th), Glenmorangie (14th), The Dalmore (15th) and The Singleton of Glen Ord on the 16th. The festival finishes at Tomatin on the 17th May.

Ready for more?

With the Spirit of Speyside festival finishing on the 6th of May, Whisky enthusiasts will have a few days to recover before setting the sat nav for Thurso, home of Wolfburn and Scotland's most northerly mainland distillery.

The festival's website details the accommodation and dining options available around each distillery.

Of course, if you are feeling brave, The Islay Festival of Music and Malt gets underway on the 24th of May, just a week after the Highland Whisky Festival finishes.