Dorchester exploded in a riot of culture over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Music, art, poetry and prose were found in every corner of the town as Dorchester Festival got under way.

Renowned poet Roger McGough had people rolling with laughter at the Thomas Hardy Hall as he offered his advice to the rich and famous in verse.

He was joined by Caribbean poet Jean Binta Breeze, who also visited local schools as part of the festival, and on Saturday night outrageous comic Jenny clair took the stage at the hall to deliver her Perrier Award-winning wicked humour.

Shoppers were entertained by the Mill Street Jazz Band in the town centre and walkers were serenaded by the Durnovaria Silver Band in the Borough Gardens.

At every venue in town there were shows booked out with long waiting lists for tickets as arts lovers clamoured for tickets.

Festival co-ordinator Jennie Runeckles said: "The festival has gone brilliantly.

"Every major event has been booked out and there have been many people phoning for tickets after we've sold out.

"There has been a great response to the performances in the town centre and some marvellous feedback from the shows.

"People were particularly impressed with the harpist Ruth Wall, who gave a world premiere piece at the county museum."

There were also several art exhibitions being staged around the town, including Sian Bonnell's photographs of domestic objects in the wild, displayed at Dorset County Hospital, and an exhibition called 'Unravelled' at the Town Hall, featuring fabric-based pieces from Wessex artists.

The Magistrates' Room at the Corn Exchange provided a venue for an interactive exhibition on life in the 1950s, including rationing and rock 'n roll, which was staged by the Dorchester Townswomen's Guild and the University of the Third Age.

In the old Crown Court there was a chance for local amateurs to flex their vocal chords as they rehearsed and performed Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta Trial by Jury in a day.

BBC Television's Dave Arthur, who was a musician and storyteller for Playaway, was keeping his audience spellbound at Dorchester Arts Centre.

There was choral music with Rick Birley, Richard Hall and St Osmund's Singers at St Mary's Church, Indian dance at the Brownsword Hall in Poundbury and a feast of music and dance in the Borough Gardens, where a food festival was being held all weekend.

Town crier Alistair Chisholm was in full voice, taking parties of spook fans on a ghost trail.

Forbidding feminist Germaine Greer was in fine form at the Corn Exchange and renowned poet Roger McGough had his audience in stitches.

Jennie added: "There really has been something for everyone in this festival.

"People have had a hard time choosing what to go and see, as all the events have overlapped each other.

"But everybody seems to have seen something they liked."