ENTRIES are being invited for the 91st annual Bournemouth Music Competitions Festival.

Organisers are calling on amateur singers, dancers, instrumentalists and actors to compete in the festival, due to run from May 26 until July 6.

Performers from anywhere in the world can take part and all age groups are invited.

Dancers will compete at QE School in Wimborne with speech, drama, instrumental and vocal classes being judged at Boscombe's Shelley Theatre.

Choirs will perform at Bournemouth's Pavilion Theatre, which will also be the venue for a celebration concert on Saturday July 6.

The Bournemouth Music Competitions Festival was established in 1926 by Sir Dan Godfrey, the founder-conductor of the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra, now the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

In the first year, 7,000 competitors travelled to the original Winter Gardens to compete in music, speech, and drama. The festival has since run every year, with a brief gap during World War II.

Former competitors include the cellist Natalie Klein, the pianist Alison Farr, the choirmaster and broadcaster Gareth Malone, and the festival patron, the conductor Peter Stark.

This year sees the introduction of the Hubert Parry Young Vocalist Award, worth £250. Competitors for this award, who must be between 18 and 35 years of age, can enter all or any of the nine classes, including Operatic Arias written before 1827, Operatic Arias written after 1827, Mozart Operatic Arias, and an Aria from any Oratorio.

Details of classes and how to enter can be found at bmcf.info