A popular community music festival attracted a record number of visitors at the weekend, all keen to take advantage of the burst of warm sunny weather.

East Anglian Daily Times: Music day on the Green. A full afternoon and evening of music and entertainment will take place on Stowupland Green. Nine bands will be performing with a range of music to suit many tastes.Music day on the Green. A full afternoon and evening of music and entertainment will take place on Stowupland Green. Nine bands will be performing with a range of music to suit many tastes. (Image: Archant)

The ‘Music on the Green’ event in Stowupland on Saturday featured an impressive line-up of local bands against a backdrop of sideshows, charity stalls and trade stands.

Groups such as 23X, Big Dogg Funk, the Demodes, Switch, Far From the Ordinary and festival headliners Crossover were among the musical talent.

Other attractions included traditional vintage funfair rides, children’s entertainment, a barbecue and real ales.

The event was started in 2005 after villagers responded to parish council survey asking what they would like to see the village green used for.

One of the organisers, Keith Welham, said: “They requested a music event and it was originally a very small affair for the first three years.

“But it has grown significantly during the past eight years through word of mouth, and the festival is now attracting people from the surrounding area. But we are lucky that it has still managed to retain the original village community feel.”

According to Mr Welham, this year’s festival, which ran from noon to 11pm, was the most successful yet.

He added: “We had young musicians from Stowupland High School playing alongside established local bands so it was great to be able to give them all a stage.

“The music was tremendous and everything went really well. But one of the highlights for me was to see so many big family groups with three generations attending and spending the whole 11 hours together enjoying the music and the sunshine.”