Budding young thespians donned costumes and got into character to bring the curtain down on a popular annual arts competition.

The students from Suffolk schools were taking part in the drama and speech section of the Sudbury Festival of Performing Arts.

In the ‘dualogue’ section, pairs of youngsters took to the stage to act out excerpts from stories such as Alice in Wonderland, and brought poetry to life.

The festival, now in its 92nd year, features dance, music, speech and drama classes. It has blossomed and grown over the years due to an increase in talented performers applying to take part.

This year, there were 700 festival entries - an increase of 200 on last year - with the dance section being the most popular.

The drama and speech section, held at the Delphi Centre, was the final category and attracted around 120 entries.

One of the organisers, Janet Penfold, said: “We had several students from Ormiston Academy who came and did some solo acting which was extremely good and very enjoyable. Some of the children made their performances quite amusing.

“The adjudicator, Louise Manders, was very impressed and gave some really constructive criticism.”

The Sudbury Festival of Performing Arts began in 1922 as the Clare Festival before it eventually moved to Sudbury.

Mrs Penfold said the event’s popularity showed no signs of waning, but the committee desperately needs new members to help organise next year’s event if it is to continue to thrive long term.

For anyone who missed the individual festival sections, a concert showcasing the very best performances from all three disciplines will take place this Sunday, March 23 at the Ormiston Academy, starting at 3pm.

Anyone interested in joining the organising committee can call Janet on 01787 227929.