THE youth of Middlewich were out in force at the weekend for an event that celebrated the best things about being young.

On Saturday Middlewich Civic Hall, Market Fields and Microchips caf were packed with hundreds of young visitors who attended the event to see what is on offer in the town.

Organised by Microchips, Middlewich Vision and Congleton Borough Council, BLAST (Bringing Learning and Skills Together) has been nine months in the planning and Ceri Edwards, one of the organisers, said the event lived up to its name.

She said: "It went really well, it was very good.

"I think about 200 to 300 people attended and Microchips certainly had a lot of interest from kids we haven't seen before. And of course we were blessed with great weather."

Ceri said highlights were the skate park, DJ and music workshops as well as the band and dance events.

She said: "The henna tattooists were kept busy all day - there were queues of youngsters waiting for temporary tattoos and the dance mats were never out of use.

"I think there are a few things to learn from this year's festival but if we could get the funding to organise another youth celebration then we'd definitely go for it."