More than 3,000 people descended on the river banks in Chippenham town centre at the weekend for the town’s first River Festival.

The two day event, which aimed to promote the River Avon, was organised by the Rotary Club of Chippenham Wiltshire Vale.

One of the highlights of the festival was the dragon boat racing on Saturday which saw the RAF Lyneham team just pipping the Sailing and Canoeing Club to the post.

The River Zone in the dome tent also attracted a lot of interest with the exhibition of sailing dinghies and a display about the river’s history, technology and potential for improvements.

On shore there was lots to keep children entertained with Punch and Judy shows, a climbing wall, mountain bike display and huge inflatables.

On Sunday, a duck race, boat trips, canoe races and raft building continued to attract the crowds despite poor weather.

Sheila Smith, 58, of Brook Street, said she hopes the festival will become an annual event.

She said: “It was such a lovely weekend, there were crowds of people down by the river – more so on Saturday because the weather was much nicer.

“The dragon boat racing was just brilliant and it was lovely to see Chippenham so busy.”

Festival organiser John Clark said despite making a loss of £5,000 and the setbacks running up to the event which saw live music pulled and the sale of alcohol scrapped, he was delighted with the first festival.

He said: “The lack of alcohol turned out to be a plus, because it was just a super safe family event that did what it said on the tin – celebrated our great river and all the great things you can do on and around it.

“It has been a roller-coaster ride to get the festival on. I am sure we have made all the mistakes in the first year, so next year we will start earlier and in a better position.

“Thank you to all the sponsors who made it possible and the fantastic volunteers and organisations who helped out.”