ORGANISERS of the annual Waterside Arts Summer Festival are vowing that this year's event will be the biggest and the best.

The festival - a two-week feast of entertainment for people who love music, poems and paintings - is due to get under way on July 2.

Pubs, schools and churches in Hythe and neighbouring villages will host a wide variety of events, culminating in a finale concert on July 16.

Many of the events will be free and the others will have only a small entry charge.

The festival will begin with exhibitions at Hythe Community Centre and an opening concert at Gang Warily recreation centre.

Other events in the opening week will include a classical concert at All Saints Church, Fawley, a "poems and pints" session at the Nelson pub in High Street, Hythe, and a variety show at Hythe Parish Hall.

A craft fair at Hythe Community Centre and a performance by the Chris Walker Sextet will be among the events staged the following week.

On the final day of the festival Hythe streets will be closed to traffic during more than six hours of free open-air entertainment.

Shoppers will mingle with clowns, puppets and dancers as the celebration of local culture reaches its climax. A festival spokesman said: "Many events have already been finalised, including a tribute rock evening on July 2 and a picnic and jazz session on July 9.

"The final concert has always been something special and this year is no exception. Headlining the event will be the Silver Beatles, the south's best known Beatles tribute band.

"This year's festival is likely to be the biggest and best so far."

Hampshire's Lord Lieutenant, Mary Fagan, is patron of the event, which has gone from strength to strength since it was first staged in 1994.