Organisers of the annual Wharfedale Festival of Performing Arts are seeking audiences to cheer on performers and additional helpers next month.

The festival will take place at venues around Ilkley from May 11 to 18, featuring a wide variety of competitive classes, plus workshops.

The event draws in talented performers, many of them children and young people, from across Wharfedale as well as much further afield.

One of the highlights, on May 17, will be the Ilkley Parish Council Evening of Vocal Delight, featuring songs from the shows, old time music hall, Pop Star singers and cabaret solos.

But organisers also hope to bring in crowds to give entrants an audience to play to. Festival secretary, Elizabeth Sharp, said: “We need audiences. It is heartbreaking to see wonderfully talented young performers performing in near-empty halls.”