THE programme is fast filling up for the 2005 Ilkley Summer Festival in August.

Festival co-ordinators and event organisers met last Thursday to confirm the

latest stage of event planning and discuss events which are already down in the diary.

The third annual festival will run throughout August, being launched once more with a celebration of Yorkshire Day on August 1. Although much of this year's programme is now packed with events, some of the latest treats on offer were confirmed last week.

The Darwin Gardens Trust confirmed its plans to hold another Doggy Fun Day at Darwin Gardens Millennium Green on Wells Road. Last year's event featured a display by dog handlers and fun and games for families and their pets.

Another popular event with children, the fun day at the paddling pool on the edge of the edge of Ilkley Moor, is also expected to return in summer 2005.

The event was launched last year to celebrate the re-opening of the pool and promote it to local families, after a parent asked Bradford Council to refurbish the pool for the enjoyment of further generations of Wharfedale youngsters. More fun is to be had at a children's day in town, which this year has the theme of The Circus Comes to Town.

Ilkley Flower Show will also be inviting children to make a mask on a special competition class for the show, which also takes place in August and forms a key event in the festival schedule. The meeting last week heard that Ilkley Flower Club had volunteered to run flower arranging displays at the show.

Ilkley's All Saints Parish Church is planning activities of its own to coincide with the Ilkley Summer Festival.

The church is planning festivities as part of the Yorkshire Day celebrations, and as well as holding its summer fair on August 13 to coincide with the festival,

the church will be organising an

exhibition of work by art students from Newcastle.

Festival chairman, Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, said the development of other events were discussed at last week's meeting. Among them were a talk on Ilkley and the Water Cure by Mike Dixon, and the possibility of having people on hand at the Manor House Museum, Castle Yard, on certain days, to tell visitors more about the Get Wet, Get Well, exhibition.

The exhibition is being organised by the Friends of the Manor House, and will focus on Ilkley's famous water cure, one of the major reasons for the town's growth. Councillor Hawkesworth said there has been some debate about holding another indoor concert, although this has not yet been decided.

The King's Club at Ilkley Baptist Church will invite children to consider the theme of Harry Potter and The Bible. More guided walks around the town are being planned for August.

Preparations are also building up for the Victory Concert on The Grove, marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Local British Legion members are believed to have been involved with the talks.