Fun days to replace festival

The activity-packed occasions will take place on August 31 and September 1 at the Hampshire Avenue recreation ground.

They replace the Pevensey Festival of the past two years which was scheduled to take place this weekend.

Carole Fullick, of the Bognor Community Action Network, said the festival had proved impossible to stage this year.

Its members were unable to overcome the loss of enthusiasm and knowledge caused by the death of Bognor CAN founder and chairman Ron Hildreth in June in time to stage a major summer event for all ages.

It had also proved difficult to obtain funding for a repeat festival.

Instead, the family fun days were intended to ensure that people who lived around the recreation ground could still enjoy themselves for free.

Both days will take place between 11am and 4pm. Among the enjoyment on offer will be quad bikes, football and workshops for music and arts and crafts.

Bognor CAN is also staging the first town show in Bognor Regis since the mid-1980s at least.

The occasion will be a chance for people to display something they have grown or made. It could be a vegetable, a cake, biscuits, a floral display or a craft item. Children's classes will include a competition to make a garden from recycled materials.

As well as the exhibits, the September 15 show will have a health theme.

Workshops will take place in cooking skills and keeping fit among other subjects.

The free show will take place in marquees between 11am and 4pm on the Hampshire Avenue recreation ground.

It is being organised by the Bognor Community Action Network. Carole Fullick, of Bognor CAN, said: 'This will be the first town show for at least 20 years.

It might be the first of its type ever.

'We thought it would be a good idea to hold the show to provide people with the chance to put their skills on display. But it will not be just about showing. It will be about learning as well.'

Entrants should contact her on 01243 870406 for details.