THE SECOND Forest Activities Festival was an even bigger success than last year's event say organisers.

The festival at The Speech House near Coleford showcases the huge variety of activity that is available in the Forest.

That included everything from kick-boxing and circus skills to local music, food and drink with visitors trying many different activities for themselves.

Among those making an appearance was Pete who will be one of the scarecrows who will be coming to the Coleford Music Festival in August.

He was there with creator Vicki Thornton and Nick Penny from the busking festival and attracted a lot of attention.

Between 3,000 and 4,000 people came through the gates and there was a lot of positive feedback as well as ideas for next year's festival said Amanda Smith who is one of the organisers.

She said: "We felt it went very well – the number of visitors was up on last year and we had more activity providers.

"There was a lot of enthusiasm and we've had some ideas for next year's festival."