ORGANISERS behind a Dales flowerpot festival say they hope the hundreds of colourful creations will help make people smile as the country comes out of the coronavirus pandemic.

A record number of people, shops and organisations have unveiled their creative sides and helped fill Settle and Giggleswick with a colourful and sometimes hilarious array of flowerpot creations - and all in the Covid-safe outdoors.

The thousands of creations that make up the eighth event, which will run throughout July and August until September 5, including a full-size Harry Potter and Hedwig, to a giant blue crayfish hanging off the Ribble River bridge.

Older visitors will remember Compo and Nora Batty, from television’s Last of the Wine, there is a family of meerkats, Rupert the Bear, and appropriately, a leaping dolphin outside Settle and District Swimming Pool.

Marian Potter, visiting the festival with her children, said they had all enjoyed seeing the clever and varied models.

“We couldn’t believe how many there are, and so clever; I liked the one climbing a lamppost on the way into town, and there is even a police officer flowerpot close to the police station, I don’t know if the police did it themselves, but it made us all laugh. The festival is outside too, so we all felt safe walking around, its just good to be able to get out again after the awful time we have all had over the last year and a half.”

A ‘vibrant Settle’ community initiative, there are three different trails for visitors to chose from - around the town centre, lower Settle and Giggleswick, and Upper Settle.

There are no prizes, the festival is just for fun, with anyone welcome to go along, and bring along their own flowerpot creation, to maybe take a ‘selfie’ amongst the other flowerpots and post it on the festival’s social media page.

One of the organisers Steve Amphlett said: “We do little other than encourage people to get involved and get creative. There is no theme for the festival, other than ‘make people smile!’, so people can create whatever takes their fancy.

“This year we’ve everything from book and television characters through to dinosaurs. The trails are a great safe way for people to enjoy emerging from lockdown without having to be crammed together.”

Trail sheets at £2 each include about 50 educational and entertaining questions for all the family. Sheets are available from Settle Tourist Information in Cheapside and at The Folly, Victoria Street, and in shops in Cheapside and Duke Street.

People are encourage to post their photos on Settle Flowerpot Festival’s Facebook page