THIS year's Bromsgrove Festival has been hailed a huge success by its organisers, who have now embarked on their plans for next year's event.

The 2006 festival came to a grand finale with a performance from opera star Sir Willard White at St John's Church in Bromsgrove.

Other performances which wowed audiences throughout the three-week event included Julian Lloyd-Webber, the London Mozart Players, and the Dutch College Swing Band, who flew in straight from a concert in Germany.

The Young Mozart show at the Artrix Centre was also among the top attractions.

Festival chairman, Mrs Mary White, was pleased with the response from the public.

"The main thing is, it's that the public has their say on things, and they seemed very pleased," she said.

"We always try to have a varied programme, and I'd like to think all of the performers did offer something different.

"It wasn't just confined to Bromsgrove, people came from quite a wide area.

Violinist Alexander Fitkovetsky triumphed in this year's Young Musicians Platform competition, with the final concert taking place at Avoncroft Museum's New Guesten Hall.

Mrs White described him as an "outstanding musician".

"He will go on to great things," she said.

"It was also the first time we didn't have a pianist in the final, as we had two violinists and a flautist."

She revealed that work has already started on next year's event, in an attempt to attract more top names to the town.

by Dan Harrison