THE Warrington Festival is set to return in September.

And over the next few weeks in Yester Years we will be taking a look at some of the other festivals and events that to have taken place in the townWarrington in the past.

This picture, by W Taylor believed to have been painted around 1840 to 1845, is titled Mersey Above a Weir with a Regatta and depicts a regatta on the Mersey near Warrington in the early 1840s.

It is one of the oil paintings in the collections at Warrington Museum.

From the 1840s until the 1860s Warrington staged its own annual regatta on the Mersey, beginning at Fiddlers Ferry.

There was a half-day holiday as people turned out to see a variety of races from large sailing vessels to rowing boats.

This view shows the course near Howley with the tower of the parish church on the left.

In about 1863 the river became so polluted that the races were discontinued.

Meanwhile, Culture Warrington is calling on residents to share their stories and photographs of historic festivals in the town as part of a new exhibition.

Twenty years on from when the town hosted the first V Festival in Latchford, the exhibition is set to showcase the many outdoor events that have brought the people of Warrington together.

Derek Dick, outreach and engagement manager at Culture Warrington, said: “We want to hear about your memories of all the wonderful events and celebrations that have taken place in Warrington.

“It may be of a parade, a street party, or a member of your family taking part as the May Queen or even the Temperance Queen.

“All images are welcome, old and new.”

The exhibition is part of a programme of events which will take place across the town between September 16 and October 2 as part of the second Warrington Festival.

It will include a headlining concert by Starsailor and 80s night in Bank Park.

n If you have any images or stories that you would like to be part of the exhibition, please send them to museum@culturewarrington.org by August 12.