NOT only did the sun shine and more than 400 enthusiasts enjoy the second Haslemere Gin Festival, but the welcome drink was a specially-distilled town creation.

Hambledon-based The Village Spirit Collective, one of ten local distillers represented, launched Haslemere Gin Community Spirit at the festival – created for the occasion by its group of local ‘ginfluencers’ and presented as a free sample to every festival goer.

The Haslemere Museum event was also supported by the town’s Redh Real English Drinks House, which served up a bottle of Jeffrey’s Tonic in every gift bag.

Festival goers sampled a range of more than 20 gins and enjoyed them in the atmospherically-lit grounds, listening to live music by Alice Milburn and her band, and Georgie Standage.

Further entertainment was provided by local magician Sam Harris, who dazzled guests with his mind-blowing tricks, while Willy’s Wagon was kept busy cooking up wood-fired pizzas.

Antoinette Francis from Visit Haslemere said: “Everywhere I looked, people were smiling and enjoying themselves – it was incredibly well attended and a great event to be a part of.

“As well as the return of some wonderful local distillers, we were also really excited to see several new and very local ones at this year’s Haslemere Gin Festival.

“We are so lucky to have all these delicious gins on our doorstep.

“A tremendous amount of effort went into hosting this event and we can’t thank enough all those involved for their time and support to help put on such a wonderful evening.

“To top it off, two seriously lucky ladies won a festival gin hamper each worth over £200.”