THE HUGE success that was the six-week, 90-event Crediton Festival came to a splendid end with a "Finale Party" last Saturday.

On a gloriously warm and sunny evening, a capacity audience of between 300 and 400 people celebrated the Festival at its final event in the town square, in a packed "cabaret-style" programme lasting four hours.

With snapshot presentations from a number of groups who had appeared in the festival's remarkable programme, the evening started with the big band sounds of QE's jazz band, and closed at midnight with young and old alike dancing in the warm balmy night air to "Skaper".

As well as these there were drama and dancing presentations from QE's Expressive Arts departments, martial arts from the town's Tai Chi and Tae Kwondo groups, singing from Crediton Operatic and Dramatic Society (CODS), an excerpt from "The Armed Man", when a choir of 130 sang at the Parish Church and all linked by the irrepressible Charlie Werner, headteacher turned comedy MC for the night.

Festival producer Rod Brookes-Hocking said: "It was a fabulous final night bringing to an end over a year's work by scores of local people, with a busy and varied six weeks of very successful community celebration.

"Of all the 90 events put on by the 34 groups involved - in itself a remarkable achievement -only one was lost to poor weather, and even that one – the Thursday evening sell-out of the three nights, 10 primary schools storytelling project – is being re-presented next week at Hayward's School".

He added, "I'd like to thank the hundreds of people involved in presenting events within the festival.

"The events deserve every bit of the high praise they have received for their creativity and quality - it really is brilliant, even humbling, to live in a town with so much talent and - of course - many thanks as well to the thousands of people who attended so many events and supported the groups over the six weeks.

"Many thanks, also, to the inner production team (what a team!) as well as to the groups on the wider steering group, a great year's work; to Crediton Foodbank, our chosen charity, for the way they joined in and rose to the occasion and of course, a very big 'thank you' to our many sponsors, without whom we couldn't have presented such a wide and varied programme."

Rosemary Stephenson, Crediton Arts Centre administrator and member of the Festival Production Team, said: "We have been very happy to help administrate the festival as well as produce some of its key events.