THE temperature could have been warmer and the sun could have made an appearance but that didn’t put thousands of people off enjoying the annual Forest Activities Festival.

The festival at the Speech House near Coleford is a day-long celebration of the huge range of activities on offer in the Forest from bushcraft to circus skills to community music and walking football.

There were lots of opportunities to have a go at many activities.

The festival also saw the launch of the new Trashconverter which will be touring the Forest to highlight ways of combatting the increasing litter problem in the area.

Four-times world champion racer Katy Curd, who offers mountain biking in the Forest, got on board offering to exchange trash for treats from the Trashconverter, which is a redesigned horse box.

Katy said: “I’m really excited to be supporting Love Your Forest and the return of the Trashconverter. This is an innovative and fun way to engage with visitors including the mountain biking community.

“It saddens me to see the forest covered in litter – particularly when there is so much work going into providing good riding trails for free. Whether you’re a walker, sightseer or a mountain biker, it’s everyone’s responsibility to keep litter out of the forest.”

Archaeologists from Worcestershire Archeology who spent three days with local people last autumn unearthing the secrets of Soudley Camp, returned to the Forest with some of the fascinating artefacts they have found, some dating back thousands of years.

There was plenty of music including ukulele band Ukes uv Azzard, the Forest of Dean Male Voice Choir, the Forest Singers and African drumming group Djabot who had plenty of takers to have a go at playing percussion and there was traditional dance by the Forest of Dean Morris.

There were many entries for the Forest of Dean Dog Rescue’s fun show with lots of categories including best-looking boy and girl.

The show raised some £300 to help the group’s work in finding homes for dogs.

The Lottery-funded Foresters’ Forest initiative was well represented at the festival with representatives from 18 of the projects on hand to show what is happening.

They included Forest Explorers, a group for four- to 13-year-olds which aims to introduce youngsters to the natural environment around them, and who offered children the opportunity to toast marshmallows over an open fire.

There was a chance to try woodworking with traditional hand tools at the Forest Man Shed stand and the Forest Rocks group was sharing its passion for painting stones which they hide around the district to be found.

Engage, who are based at Artspace in Cinderford, got youngsters involved in circus skills while Master Sken of Parkend demonstrated martial arts.

Cinderford took on Coleford at walking football and there was the chance to chill out in the new Forest Well-being area with activities to promote health and well-being in the Forest.

Among the visitors was the Phillips family of Coleford. Mum Jane said: “It hasn’t really felt like the end of April weather-wise but it’s been a great day out with plentry to keep the kids entertained.

“The festival really shows how much is on offer on our doorsteps and there’s a lovely family-friendly atmosphere. We’d definitely come back again.”

Rachel Thomas, one of the organisers, said: “We don’tknow exact numbers yet but we do know that we had thousands of visitors who braved the unseasonably cold weather.

“We’ve had lots of positive comments from visitors about how lucky we are to have such a variety of things to do in the area with so many inspiring community projects and initiatives.”