SO popular was Haslemere’s first Gin Festival, ticket holders were queuing down the street to get into the sell-out event at the High Street museum.

Once inside, they enjoyed sampling a wide range of finely crafted spirits by artisan distillers, attending master classes and listening to musicians, Hollie Hunt, Alice Milburn and Nick Tann.

Multi-award winning Surrey Hills-based Silent Pool joined seven other local producers, including fellow award-winner Blackdown Distillery, Winchester Distillery, Corner Fifty Three, Gorilla Spirits, Tom Cat and Juniper Green, supported by Haslemere Majestic Wine and Fentimans.

Organisers Antoinette Francis and Heather Matthews, from Visit Haslemere, said: “Wow what a night for Haslemere’s first Gin Festival.

“A huge thank-you to our distillers, musicians, the caterer and our team of volunteers who made it all happen.

“We know there were some longer queues at the beginning and we thank you for bearing with us.

“To everyone who came, stayed and settled into an evening of sampling a great variety of gins, we hope you had a wonderful experience soaking up the atmosphere with good friends and good music in the beautiful setting of the museum’s garden. Here’s to 2019.”