A POPULAR Andover festival has been granted £2,000 from the town council as it returns to the high street for the 10th year.

A-Fest, Andover's youth festival, will take place on Sunday, April 28, on the high street, running from 10am to 3pm.

The festival organisers were granted the fund at a full council meeting on Wednesday, March 20.

Cllr Katherine Bird, one of the organisers, answered questions of her fellow councillors before stepping out of the chamber while other members decided on the decision on the grant application.

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During the question session, Cllr Stu Waue asked why last year’s event was notably smaller and less attended than the previous years.

Cllr Bird said last year’s event actually had more stalls than previous years, but they were spread across the high street and the riverside park.

“But what we found is people either went to the riverside park or came to the high street and didn’t do both.

“So for this year we are bringing all stalls back to high street. We are on track to have the same number of stalls. Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly how many people would turn up. As it isn’t a ticketed event, we can’t demonstrate how many people have bought the tickets. But footfall last year was around 4,000 people. And that is again what we are expecting this year.”

The festival, which is aimed at five to 18-year-olds, is organised by A-Fest Andover CIC, formerly known as Chat Together CIC, a local organisation that works to promote youth engagement in Andover.

Cllr Bird is A-Fest Andover CIC director and co-organiser of the festival.

The event will have feature zones full of activities on the high street, offering chances to get hands-on with music, arts and crafts, health and wellbeing, performance, and identity and self.

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An environment zone will also be featured at the event, showcasing community groups and organisations working to educate the community on environmental issues including preservation.

A-Fest had previously asked for £1,000 grant from Hampshire County Council but it received only £200.

The total budget of the event is £7,785.80.