Wootton Bassett’s third biennial Arts Festival has proved so successful that the committee has promised to organise another next year.

The four-day festival, which began on Thursday, offered an impressive range of music, speech, drama and creative writing in 81 classes that attracted almost 500 entries.

Janet Chaplin, who chaired the organising committee, told the Highlights concert audience at the Memorial Hall on Sunday: ”This Festival has been an explosion of fun and talent.

"In the autumn, Wootton Bassett Arts Festival will be confirmed as a full member of the Federation of Festivals, of which there are 300 in this country.”

Festival events were staged, often simultaneously, at St Bartholomew’s Church, the Memorial Hall, the Civic Centre and Noremarsh School hall.

High standards of performance, over a wide age range, offered excellent entertainment and keen competition.

At the School Choirs’ contest, silence was observed in the crowded parish church as a repatriation cortege passed through the High Street.

Even young children were quiet, while the church bell was tolled. Seven schools competed, and Lydiard Millicent School Choir won.

Even Old Court Pre-School took part, in a class of their own, to gain a certificate.

The Highlights concert was a memorable finale to a remarkable festival.

It featured Ryan Curtis on electric guitar, Joy Boole, clarinet; Andrew Fielden on trombone, Georgina Lowe, cello; Hockaday Infants’ delightful choral speaking, piano solos by Maia Jarvis, Olivia Clarke, Oliver Bullock, Rosanna Fish, Theo Lukens and Kirsty Chaplin, who also played the harp, and recited her original poem Harp of My Heart.

Six-year-old year old Liberty Sharina charmed everyone with a poem about measles; Ellie Hyde-Bates played the violin, Gregory Strangword-Price recited a Lion poem, and Ciara Parker-Northeast played the recorder. Solo vocalists were Deanna Aspell, Matilda Wale and Joanna Peskett.

Drama was provided by The Enthusiasts, a talented team of four children who staged a superb Wizard of Oz excerpt; Holly Lamb, in an excerpt from Five Finger Exercise; a duologue by Daisy Robb and Ella Milne; the Clarendon Players in an adaptation from The Close, and Margaret Williams’ extract from Night Out by Harold Pinter.

Jane Wade read her original story, Hiss and Recoil; 12 year old Emma Bessant read her remarkable entry, from the Under 14 class, I Belong to No Man, told from the perspective of a slave transported from Africa. Baker’s Dozen performed madrigals to round off a splendid programme.

Thanks were expressed to all the sponsors, volunteers and participants, and to the adjudicators: Jeffrey Wynn Davies (Music); Janet Tuckett, (Speech & Drama) and Godfrey Room, (Creative Writing).

Trophies for the highest marks, in the Festival’s various disciplines, were awarded as follows: Music: Kirsty Chaplin; Creative Writing: Jane Wade; Speech & Drama: Margaret Williams.

A new award, a cut glass rose bowl, the Doreen Room Memorial Tropphy for Speech and Drama, was presented to Aqil Jannaty.

Wootton Bassett Mayor Steve Bucknell , who was asked to present a trophy to a performer of his choice, had a difficult task, and after mentioning several outstanding acts he handed the award to Ciara Parker-Northeast, whose performance had changed his perception of the recorder.