SPRING was in the air for folk music lovers as an annual festival came to Darlington.

Musicians and dancers from across the country took part in Darlington’s Spring Thing Folk Festival, which transformed town centre venues into a hive of activity.

Throughout the four-day festival, visitors took part in guitar, banjo and ukulele workshops, ceilidhs, songwriting contests, singing sessions and craft fairs.

A number of concerts were also held in town centre pubs and morris dancers from across the region performed for shoppers in the town centre.

The festival, which has been staged for nearly 30 years, moved to the Dolphin Centre after the closure last year of its former base at Darlington Arts Centre.

Last year’s event was blighted by cold weather but festival chairman, George Armstrong, said he feels confident about the festival’s future.

He said: “It has been really great, the weather has improved since last year, although I did see a flurry of snow on Saturday morning.

“But compared with last year it has been far better and the concerts have been much better attended.

“I have got an excellent team around me. We will be celebrating the 30th anniversary very shortly, so that is another reason to keep it going as it would be a shame to see 30 years of history disappear.”