THOUSANDS of people headed down to the Leigh Folk Festival as it celebrated it's 25th anniversary at the weekend.

The popular free event, run by a group of volunteers, has grown incredibly over the years and saw more than 20,000 people across the venues in Leigh over the course of the weekend.

There was something for everyone at the folk festival which saw a mix of live bands, soloists, poetry, storytelling and much more.

Creative director of the festival, Paul Collier, 57, has been involved in the festival from day one, first as a performer and now as one of the chief organisers.

Mr Collier said: “I have been absolutely delighted with how it’s gone. It has gone very smoothly. I had a fabulous day in the library gardens on Saturday and everything went very well, I think it has been really good this year.

“The numbers have been well up from the usual. We reckon about 20,000 people came over the weekend.”