Great finale to festival

The Polish dancers and singers enthralled the audience with their exuberance and energy, and filled the theatre with both rousing folk songs and dances and more haunting solo pieces.

The richly colourful costumes, which all depict specific regions of Poland, were magnificant and added to the style and glamour of the occasion.

Cllr Dr Ian Haffenden gave a vote of thanks when he praised the hard work of all those involved in the festival.

Jenny West, co-ordinator of the festival, said: 'It was a wonderful evening and a perfect final performance to celebrate the end of Hailsham's first arts festival.

'Support for the festival has been amazing and we will definitely follow it up next year.'

Over two weeks the town saw a series of unusual art events in various venues.

It started with a flower festival and concert at St Mary's church and included a major exhibition of sculpture and paintings at Gallery North.

There were art and poetry talks, live music from The Dawgs and Hailsham Choral Society, Latin American dance, Polish dancers and the Hailsham Art Trail, which captured the imagination of more than 200 people, who collected their maps from the gallery and set off on a trail of discovery around the town.

Finalists of the primary school children's art competition will be presented with their prizes next week and the overall winner will be announced.

Organisers thanked their sponsors, especially the main sponsors: Awards for All, Waitrose, Chalvington Barns and Aspen Air Conditioning.

The festival was supported by Hailsham Town Council and the Wealden District Council.