FESTIVAL fever swept through Beverley as thousands of people flocked to the town's annual folk extravaganza.

Now in its 26th year, the event has built up a solid reputation as one of the best in the country and fans travelled from far and wide to enjoy some of the best-known folk artists in the country.

Beverley was alive with the sound of music throughout the three-day event, which kicked off on Friday with a sterling line-up, including headliner Billy Bragg.

Organisers were looking to make the festival bigger and better than ever and they did not disappoint.

The addition of more marquees meant guests of all ages could enjoy even more activities than in previous years, with an array of craft, food, music stalls, workshops and children's events on offer, plus non-stop performances at the Late Night Festival Club.

And the Wold Top Festival Bar was humming with activity as thirsty punters raised a tankard of famous Beverley Festival Brew.

Speaking from the festival village on the last day of the event, organiser Chris Wade said: "We have had about 5,000 visitors over the weekend, which is great.

"Everybody has said this has been one of the best festivals we've done.

"All the shows have gone really well and the line-up has been great.

"This year we decided to put more emphasis on the festival village and it has worked out really well.

"We still had activities taking place in the town centre, but we tried to make the festival village bigger and better than ever and it has really worked well."

Eddie Bewsher, 46, of west Hull travelled to the event with his daughter Jodie, three.

He said: "I have come for the past three years and have always enjoyed it – I know some people who have been coming much longer than that.

"This is the third year my daughter has been so she has been to one every year since she was born.

"She likes to come for the face painting and also loves the fiddle players."

Visiting the festival for the first time was Laura Manton, 24, of Scarborough.

She said: "I have been camping here for the whole weekend and it has been excellent.

"I particularly wanted to see The Peatbog Faeries and Seth Lakeman although it has been great to see the smaller groups, some of whom I'd never heard of before."

While the weather turned blustery with showers on Saturday, this did little to dampen the spirits of festival-goers, who either took refuge under one of the many marquees or embraced the rain as a welcome way to cool off.

There were also plenty of tasty treats in the Craft Marquee to tempt visitors' tastebuds.

Rozalind Wrigley, of Leeds, had a stall selling traditional fudge and said she had been really impressed with the event.

She said: "This is the first time I have come to the Beverley Folk Festival and I have really enjoyed the event.

"Unfortunately the weather was against us on Saturday, but it has picked up for the final day."