If you love real ale and have a taste for it in London then there's only one place to be this week... the Great British Beer Festival at London's Olympia.

The CAMRA-organised event gets underway tomorrow and promises 542 beers on tap, with more still to be confirmed. There will also be hundreds of bottled beers, ciders and perries at the event.

The five-day festival will see a record number of British and international beers on tap and this year there will also be a number that are gluten free, such as GFPA by the Allendale brewery and Masquerade by Monty’s brewery. There will also be some wheat-free beers available from Woodforde’s brewery (Once Bitten), Adnams brewery (Explorer) and Timothy Taylor (Landlord).

Another beer to look out for during the festival is Venom by Potbelly brewery, which is bright green in colour and has a 5.5% ABV... how they achieved the colour is a mystery that can be discovered at the festival.

But the Great British Beer Festival is more than just a chance to taste some seriously good beer... it also provides scores of activities for festival-goers, with plenty for the whole family (barring the dog and cat) to enjoy.

The family area has activities to keep the children busy throughout the festival so they don’t feel left out. There’s Lego, board games, pushchairs and bicycles all available for use during the day, refreshments will also be available to purchase in the family area to help the day run smoothly.

And a day on the ale wouldn't be complete without the traditional British pub games to while away a few hours... such as skittles and shut the box.

In case you're not familiar with it, shut the box Is a game that has two dice and cards numbered one-12 on them. The aim of the game is to turn over all the cards, by turning over the cards that match the numbers on the dice. It's not a drinking game... honest!

So, starting tomorrow Olympia's the place to be in London... lots of beer, a few hangovers and plenty of activities for all the family to enjoy.