A HOST of musicians and street performers descended on Queen's Park, Burnley, yesterday for the Reach Festival.

Despite concerns that the event would be washed out after recent heavy rain festival-goers spent the afternoon bathed in sunshine.

Bands, including The Beat, two tone stars of the 1980s, and Bodixa, who won acclaim at this year's Glastonbury Festival, performed for the crowds.

Street performers, including a group of "air stewardesses" called the Sky Muffins, who helped entertain audiences at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, mingled with the thousands of people who turned out for the event.

Other attractions included street games, a woodland festival, a junior cricket competition and marquees featuring dance, complementary therapies, a fashion show and other events.

In the arts and crafts tent, organised by Burnley College, was bustling with visitors all afternoon who got the chance to try their hand at making mosaics and kites.

There were also displays of work by people attending non-vocational evening classes at the college.

These included a collaborative piece symbolising peace and unity put together by students at a weekly Painting for Pleasure class held at Ivy Bank School and a piece of embroidery by older women in Burnley based on their memories of their villages in Pakistan, which was the result of a joint project by Age Concern and Burnley College.