SCHOOLCHILDREN have been invited to get a sneak preview of a festival that aims to celebrate everything ingenious about Darlington.

The two-day Darlington Festival of Ingenuity, which takes place in the town centre this weekend, will feature interactive activities and exhibits to inspire young minds, and is designed to be a fun way for children and young people to learn about engineering and technology.

More than 400 pupils from primary and secondary schools across Darlington took part in activities aimed at inspiring the next generation.

Nifco, Cummins, DeepOcean, A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, Modus Seabed Intervention, Tees Cottage Pumping Station, County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service and Darlington College were all involved in the festival, giving the pupils hands-on experience with major employers in and around the town.

Activities will be based around three locations – the Market Place, Riverside Park and the raised podium at the Feethams Leisure Complex.

Paul, mechanical engineer for Nifco, said: “The best thing to come out of Darlington is probably engineering - if you look back at Darlington over the last 200 years it has been a centre point for engineering in the UK.

“I don’t want Darlington to lose the engineering side of things that we have now - there’s not so much the heavy manufacturing that there was 50 years ago but there are still a number of companies in Darlington that are all doing engineering excellence.

“That needs to continue, we need more companies like that to grow Darlington and maintain that engineering pedigree,” he added.