AN intellectual property firm has been named as an official corporate sponsor of a Deeside beer festival for the second year running.

Marks & Clerk – which encompasses patent attorneys, trade mark attorneys, lawyers and consultants – will back the Banchory Beer Festival, the largest of its kind in the north east of Scotland.

The bi-annual event is celebrating its fifth birthday this year and is held at the Deeside Rugby Club Pitches in Banchory. It is a festival of beer, cider, gin, prosecco, and Banchory’s own local rum and is expected to attract some 4000 people.

Marks & Clerk’s Aberdeen office is delighted to once again toast its sponsorship with organisers MFGF Events Limited for the gathering, which starts tomorrow and runs until Sunday.

The festival is also a proud champion of Scotland’s thriving street-food scene, and will have three entirely new vendors on hand this time offering the chance to sample wood-fired pizzas, game burgers, and curries.

The event is all topped off with an eclectic selection of great live music, including rock, alt-blues, and Americana acts such as Tide Lines, Broken Rivers and the Full Fat Band.

Other acts include Tamzene, The 101, The Carloways, Kyle Willox and Kim Anderson duo, The Mad Ferret Band, and The Jig Splitters.

There will also be a change of format this year, with two smaller marquees being replaced by one big one. This will be complemented by a chill-out tent, with a dedicated day of family fun taking place on the Sunday.

Mungo Finlayson, co-founder of MFGF Events, stressed the importance of support from local businesses.

He said: “We first launched in 2014 and we’re anticipating a further year-on-year increase in the number of attendees at our 2018 event.

“The festival is essentially just a great place to discover new and exciting Scottish produce, whether it’s selections from our booming gin and spirits industry, to something interesting for foodies to try, not to mention a fantastic live soundtrack.

“However, it’s all underpinned by vital sponsorship deals with supportive companies which help to ensure our sustained growth.

“We couldn’t do it without them – and are delighted to welcome back Marks & Clerk as a key corporate sponsor. The firm recently provided invaluable trademarking advice on our Scottish gin festival and it’s great to link up with them again for our Banchory event.”

Marks & Clerk has offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow and the sponsorship deal was struck by its Aberdeen office.

Douglas Rankin from Marks & Clerk said: “Banchory Beer Festival is a perfect fit for us as we work closely with breweries and distilleries, providing advice on brand and innovation protection.

“We continue to see an upsurge of craft brewers and distillers in what has become an increasingly competitive and innovative market.

“We are proud to sponsor this thriving local event for a second year and look forward to seeing it grow even further.”