SINGAPORE - Ben & Jerry's annual Free Cone day is back - and so are the queues.

A long line stretching to Orchard Shopping Centre had formed at Ben & Jerrys' 313@Somerset outlet by noon, with 18-year-old student Sartaj A. Singh first in the queue at 11.15am.

The ice cream chain's other two scoop shops - at Dempsey and VivoCity - are also participating in the event until 8pm today.

Fans can choose from 18 flavours. Ben & Jerry's is aiming to give away 30,000 cones across the three outlets. In the first hour, 3,550 scoops were given out.

The giveaway is a tradition with the American company, dating back to 1979.

In Singapore, Free Cone Day debuted in 2007. The company handed out almost 50,000 cones in 2008, 50,340 cones in 2009, more than 46,000 cones in 2013 and over 50,000 cones last year.