Richard ParrDereham Festival ended on a high note at the weekend with a finale party night that saw people dancing to the sounds of the SweetBeats.Richard Parr

Dereham Festival ended on a high note at the weekend with a finale party night that saw people dancing to the sounds of the SweetBeats.

Saturday's closing event was a fitting and lively end to a fabulous festival which saw around 2,500 people entertained at a wide variety of events over eight days.

Festival chairman Alan West said the biennial festival, the third to be staged, had been very successful with the high quality of performances with something to suit everyone.

During the SweetBeats finale party held at Dereham Town Football Club premises, Mr West thanked all those who had contributed to the event's success and referred to the 'tireless' work and enthusiasm of secretary Dorothy Sneesby who was ever-present at all the events.

Thoughts are already turning to the next festival in 2012 when it is hoped that the newly refurbished Dereham Memorial Hall will be the main venue for events.

Mrs Sneesby said she was pleased with the festival and said her personal highlight was the Music in the Market Place event, which had been a great success and brought the event to the people in the heart of the town.

'We were pleased with the success of this event because it was a first for us and had to overcome various official hurdles for it to happen. We were blessed with beautiful weather and people were buzzing around and really enjoying themselves,' she said.

She said that one disappointment had been the poor attendance at the excellent opening Gala classical concert at the Assembly Rooms and the opening event may need to be looked at for the next festival.

The committee are to meet in June to review the event and look at what changes may be necessary for the 2012 event.