I would like to congratulate the organisers of Darwen Music Live over Spring Bank Holiday Weekend.

It was an excellent festival and it was great to see Darwen town centre full of people.

When I think back to my own youth, Darwen on a bank holiday Sunday and Monday was an empty place.

Nothing was open, nothing was happening. Even as little as ten years ago, Darwen would be dead over Spring Bank Holiday weekend.

This all changed with the first Darwen Music Festival in the year of the Millennium.

There were a lot of doubters, of course. Many potential venues were reluctant to get involved in the first festival, many shops and businesses stayed shut.

Each year, however, Darwen Music Live has got better and better. There were a record number of venues this years and shops, bars and restaurants were all busy.

The doubters were wrong.

If Darwen is to thrive in the future, Darwen Music Live points the way. We must do new and different things in Darwen Town Centre which attract people from near and far. We cannot offer only what was available in the past.

Coun Dave Hollings, Weavers Mews, Darwen.