THE 2012 Bury St Edmunds Festival is now under way – and it all began with a world record attempt, as a 1,000-strong choir performed.

Inspired by the Olympics, the festival got off to a great start, with 60 schoolchildren doing the Big Dance outside The Apex, in Charter Square to kick off the first weekend. The event, supported by DanceEast, celebrated the arrival of the Olympic torch in the UK and is part of an attempt to break the Largest Dance Routine – Multi-venue world record.

Year 3 and 4 pupils from Risby Primary School performed a five-minute dance routine, choreographed by Wayne McGregor, artistic cirector at the Royal Ballet.

The current record is held by the Netherlands with 264,188 people at 1,472 locations around the country.

On Friday evening 1,000 local schoolchildren and adult choirs sang songs from five continents on a huge outdoor stage in the setting of the town’s Abbey Gardens.

Festival organiser Nick Wells said of the perform-ance: “We have had a concert with 400 people on stage before and I thought that was massive.

“But the Around the World with 1,000 Voices is the biggest thing we have ever put on without a doubt.”