CHIPPING SODBURY hosted a festival to commemorate 800 years since the formation of the market town, with thousands of people flocking to the event.

So much was going on at the High Street and the Ridings playing fields in Chipping Sodbury on the weekend of the 11/12 August, from jousting re-enactments to maypole dancing.

The weekend had it all, with many groups in the area helping to organise the events over the two days.

It drew fantastic reviews from all those in attendance, and Sodbury Town and South Glos Councillor Rob Creer was another who praised the event as a whole.

"This celebration has not just been about the history of Chipping Sodbury but also about the present and future of our town," he said.

"It's been a testament to all the community groups that came together to make the 800th celebrations happen. Groups and societies including The Big Lunch, Rotary, The Hogweed Trotters, Sodbury In Bloom, our sports clubs and many more all contributed to what was a fantastic weekend.

"We should be especially thankful to Sodbury Town Council and Chair, Phil Rumney who has worked tirelessly to co-ordinate the Sodbury 800."

Chairman of Sodbury Town Council Phil Rumney also revealed how 'pleased' he was to see the event go so brilliantly.

"We are so pleased that everything went so well," he said.

"We had so much feedback from it, everybody who came had a really good time.

"Everyone tried to make it a community event, and that is exactly what happened. There was just a really nice buzz and feel about on the two days.

"The exhibition at the Town Hall was absolutely brilliant so we also want to thank Jim Ellesworth and David Hardill from Yate Heritage Centre for documenting our towns history."

Mr Rumney went on to say how the town will look to do more events like this in the future following the 'success' of this year.

"We want to do something else but there isn't any big events coming up unfortunately, we dont wan tto be waiting another 100 years!" He said.

"The council wants to thank everyone who helped to raise the £35,000, everyone played their part.

"What we hoped would happen, happened. The look on peoples faces was what made it more worth it.

"We had really good feedback from the re-enactors at the event. They liked the way in which the event was run so I am really glad it went as well it did."