MORE than 200 dancers performed over 500 pieces at this year’s Weymouth Dance Festival. The event, which has been running for five years, attracted dancers from all over Dorset and beyond, as well as capacity audiences.

Festival spokeswoman Lis Gray said: “We were absolutely thrilled, not just with the number of acts taking part but also with the number of people who turned up to watch.

“We were turning people away at the door which certainly wasn’t good for them but made us realise how much the festival has grown.

She added: “This year saw people enquiring about the festival at the Tourist Information Office in town – so I think we can safely assume that it is not just the friends and family of those involved, but the public in general, who are enjoying what is, in terms of audience numbers alone, a big event in the region.”

Local dance schools taking part were Weymouth Dance Studio, Quay Theatre Arts, Mercury Dance Academy, Portland Dance Studio, Dorchester Ballet & Dance Club, The Studio, The Thomas Hardye School and Crystals Cheerleaders.

Those from further afield included the Julie Adams Stage School, Prompt Corner Academy of Dance, Jo Heynes Performing Arts and Blackwell Dance Academy from Poole and Bournemouth and Stanmore College from Middlesex.

Organisers feel that if the festival continues to grow at such a rate, they made have to run it over two weekends in future years.

The committee is particularly pleased that the festival is attracting entries from new schools each year and that this year has been the event's biggest to date both in terms of competitors and audience figures. Lis said: “The festival is fast becoming an important fixture.”