DANCERS, musicians, choirs, singers and actors showcased their talents to appreciative audiences at this year’s Bournemouth Music Competi-tions Festival.

The festival, which started in May with a celebration of dance and ended with a concert at the Pavilion Theatre last Saturday, has been hailed a tremendous success.

It featured a week-long dance festival, youth and adult choir competitions, junior and adult bands, musicians of all ages and speech and language performances.

There were a record 1,673 performances over the eight-day dance festival with people travelling from as far afield as Swindon and Leicester to take part.

Nathan James, this year’s dance festival adjudicator, said it was a “wonderful week” featuring talented people aged three to 21 years old.

“The standard was very high and some of the performances in the final championship classes were exceptional,” he said.

The choirs’ weekend at the Pavilion featured school choirs and adult choirs.

“That was just superb,” said festival chairwoman Phyllis Baxter.

“It’s competitive but it is the fellowship and love of singing that really shines through.

“All the choirs support each other and it’s just wonderful listening to such high-quality voices.”

She said the youngest performer in the festival was a three-year-old dancer, while the oldest entrants were in their eighties.

Instrumental classes were adjudicated by patron Peter Stark and he also chaired the panel which judged the Young Musician of the Year competition, won by 10-year-old harpist Rosie Gill.

The festival concluded with a celebratory concert at the Pavilion theatre.

“We had a good audience and it was very much enjoyed,” said Mrs Baxter.

“It was very much a celebration of the excellence that we saw throughout the festival.”