ROSSENDALE came to life with the launch of a week-long festival.

The mayor, Coun June Forshaw, led the opening ceremony of the Rossendale Alive Festival at Marl Pits Sports Centre, which included a procession involving dance groups, a samba band and children waving flags and banners.

The festival has been organised by the new Rossendale Leisure Trust, which recently took control of running the borough's leisure facilities.

It aims to celebrate arts, sports and cultural activities and includes workshops on circus skills, painting and Bollywood dancing.

The festival ends on Sunday, July 25, with a dads and lads five-a-side football tournament at Haslingden Sports Centre, a guided walk in Edenfield and a vintage car rally starting from Bury's East Lancashire Railway Station at 10am.