A HOLLYWOOD script peppered with notes by Bill Nighy is set to raise funds for a new festival being held in Suffolk.The script from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is being sold by Mr Nighy, who played Davy Jones in the film, to raise cash for the High Tide festival, at the New Cut Theatre in Halesworth.

A HOLLYWOOD script peppered with notes by Bill Nighy is set to raise funds for a new festival being held in Suffolk.

The script from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is being sold by Mr Nighy, who played Davy Jones in the film, to raise cash for the High Tide festival, at the New Cut Theatre in Halesworth.

Mr Nighy, who has a home in Suffolk, is one of the patrons of the festival, which will showcase young dramatic talent.

Ticket sales alone will not be enough to pay for the costs of the festival, running from April 6-8, so to raise extra cash the organisers looked for creative ideas and turned to the acting community for help.

The result is the auction, which has just started, with 10 rare or luxury items including the annotated Hollywood script, Sir Tom Stoppard's annotated script of his Coast of Utopia trilogy of plays, a gold lame dress worn by Mr Nighy's partner Diana Quick as Julia Flyte in Brideshead Revisited and a painting by Rendham-based artist Maggi Hambling.

Lunches with writer Sir John Mortimer and actors Jeremy Irons and Sinead Cusack are also on offer.

Matthew Austin, a spokesman for the festival organisers, said the extra money was needed to pay actors and publicity costs.

“There's no funding from the Arts Council for this event,” he said. “So we need more money to break even and, hopefully, some of it can go towards next year's event.”

Bidding on the Bill Nighy script starts at £1,250 with the 10 items on offer through an internet auction, while bidding for the lunches takes place at the High Tide after party on April 8 after a registration process.

Ms Cusack and playwright Sir David Hare are also patrons of the festival - although none of them will be taking part as the idea of the festival is to feature writers, actors and directors that are all under 30.

It is hoped that the festival will become an annual event with Halesworth likely to remain the venue for next year.

During the weekend festival, eight plays will be performed, all written by different writers and directed by different directors.

Alongside the full productions, rehearsed readings, workshops and masterclasses will take place alongside short films, poetry and live music as well as question and answer sessions.

n To bid in the auctions, visit www.hightidefestival.org