WHEN schools from around the Forest gathered at the Speech House for the annual country dance festival, organisers had it down as the 63rd such event.

But they had to revise that when one visitor said he distinctly remembered taking part in the festival as a seven-year-old.

Mel Rudge of Lydney, whose granddaughter attends Primrose Hill Academy in the town, said he took part in 1952 when he was a pupil of the council school in Lydney, making the festival 65 years old.

Whatever the number, hundreds of children enjoyed the evening putting their best foot forward to tunes such as Coleford Jig and Ruardean Dance – Soldier’s Joy.

Parents were invited onto the field for the last dance of the evening.

A total of around 500 pupils from 30 schools – from Tibberton in the north, to Tutshill in the south – took part in the festival, dancing to live music played by local band Life of Riley.

The festival is organised by the West Gloucestershire Support Partnership which aims to raise the aspirations of pupils and to improve standards in education by sharing best practice.