THIS year Burley Summer Festival will be slightly different with no large opening events like the classic car show which usually attracts thousands of visitors to Burley, but throughout the week (from August 21 onwards) there will still be opportunities to take part in activities.

“We have a packed programme of walks from Walkers are Welcome including the historical shops of Burley’s past, a walk and visit to a sheep and beef farm, Yorkshire’s Heritage Way and a local Bee Keepers visit and walk,” said Jan Lepley, Chair of the Festival Committee. “There’s also play in the park events and craft activities for children being arranged in conjunction with local pre-school The Villages. However, if anyone wants to organise events for children as part of the Festival they would be most welcome and of course the Scarecrow Festival trail (theme Nursery Rhymes) will be entertaining for young and old. In addition talks are on-going regarding a Beer Festival, a Murder Mystery and a drive in movie arranged by the young people of Burley. Although it wasn’t possible to agree to the car show back in February when it needed to be in the Classic Car show diary, plans are now in place for lots of other events and there has been an enthusiastic response from the village to participate. We are going back to our origins which was to put on events in connection with the village for the village and so there will still be a small programme produced and distributed to every household and we are adding activities all the time.”

Anyone with ideas can get in touch via the website www.burleysummerfestival.co.uk, Facebook or directly to Jan at janbsfvolunteer@gmail.com. The next festival meeting is on Thursday, May 27 in the evening. Jan added: “If you have any thoughts do get in touch before that - Burley Summer Festival look forward to hearing from you. As we come out of lockdown there will be an enthusiasm to get together and as long as events don’t attract huge crowds concentrated in one area Burley Summer Festival will be ensuring Burley is open for business.”