NEARLY 60 artists will help celebrate a landmark anniversary when the Severn Vale Art Trail is launched.

The trail has been running for ten years and is an increasingly popular annual feature in an area stretching from Almondsbury to North Nibley.

Staged under the umbrella of Thornbury Arts Festival, it takes place just after the main festival comes to a close and features a wide variety of local artists and craft workers, many of who will have work for sale.

This year’s event takes place from April 30 to May 10 and allows people to visit artists in their own studios, as well as seeing others exhibiting in shared venues such as the Thornbury Pound gallery, Tomato Jack in Berkeley and St Mary’s churches in Thornbury and Olveston.

A total of 29 venues have been included in the trail, with photographer Laura Power, painter Andrew Kirk, glassworker Leigh-Ann Maclean and jeweller Fiona Earlam among the 2015 newcomers.

Painter Lorna Page will also exhibit for the first time in Oldbury-on-Severn’s chapel but artists who have been involved in the trail since it was initiated by Barbara Ray a decade ago will also be back.

Art trail spokeswoman Jane Parfitt said: “The reputation of the trail increases year on year.

“Besides paintings in oil and watercolour, visitors will discover sculpture and ceramics, embroidery, photography, jewellery, wood turning, cut paper art, quilting, thread painting, stained glass work and creative textile art.”

She said an exhibition by Paul Needles in the Castle School Octagon Gallery, called Another Country: Images of Spain, would be incorporated into the trail, while the unusual sculptures made by Edward Salsbury from garden implements would be exhibited in Almondsbury with the work of glass artist Jackie Shipley.

Meanwhile, Thornbury’s award winning Sophie Ploeg, whose portraits have been shown in the National Portrait Gallery in London, is expected to attract plenty of interest.

A flavour of the trail will be included in the arts festival itself, with some pieces on show in Thornbury Town Hall from April 17-25. The display will be open daily, except on the Sunday, from 10am to 4pm.

A printed art trail guide will be available soon or copies can be downloaded from the Thornbury Arts Festival website www.thornburyartsfestival.com