THERE were smiling faces at Burnley's 'Friendly Festival' as organisers stemmed the tide of decline.
Entries for the 46th Burnley Methodist Festival were slightly up this year and enthusiasm higher than ever.
Nearly 200 chapelgoers will be competing with more than 500 entries in classes ranging from cookery to clay model making, poetry to floral design.
A total of 166 classes will be judged over the four-day festival, which features church entries from as far apart as Padiham and Barrowford, Towneley and Wheatley Lane.
The event kicked off with weekend classes at Burnley's Central Methodist Church and will close with a grand concert at Wheatley Lane chapel on Friday.
Weekend classes saw many fine exhibits, not least the emboidery of Barbara Samworth, of Sabden Chapel, who gained a 100 per cent score for her work.
Wheatley Lane church dominated the group project classes, taking top spot in all but one of the five sections.
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