CRAVEN'S premier arts festival will have the magic touch next year.

Grassington Festival is well known for bringing famous faces to perform in the Dales, and among next year's entertainers is well-known magician Geoffrey Durham, who will know the area well as a former local resident.

He and his wife, comedienne Victoria Wood, used to live in Halton East. Formerly known as the Great Suprendo and a well-known face on the cult Channel 4 show Countdown, Mr Durham has been entertaining audiences for 25 years with his unique combination of laughs, charm and sleight of hand.

He is one of many well-known acts to appear at the festival, with the programme for 2003 now almost complete.

In fact, as one festival finishes artistic director Rowena Leder and her team are already looking to the next, hunting out the best acts on the world entertainment and music scene.

Next year's programme is another eclectic mix and is designed to appeal to people of all ages.

Mrs Leder has already secured writer and TV critic Clive James who will star with his old pal Pete Atkin in "Together At Last Again". Although a familiar face on television, Clive James is less well known for his foray into the music business during the 70s. With the help of near-folk-legend (and now BBC Radio 4 producer) Pete, he turned his hand to writing song lyrics and together they notched up six albums. In their new show, Clive brings his acerbic commentary on life to the stage, while Pete performs the songs.

Other definites on next year's programme are the ever-popular Barron Knights, who have been entertaining audiences for 40 years, and an illustrated talk from Sunday Times cartoonist Gerald Scarfe, while writer, broadcaster and journalist John Simpson is almost certain to appear.

Back by popular demand is The John Miller Orchestra (formerly the Herb Miller Orchestra) and the Abba tribute band Voulez Vous, who had the crowds dancing in the aisles at their last appearance.

Grassington Goes Latin will also make a welcome return. The event was a huge success last year, attracting 200 would-be salsa dancers to practise their moves with the North's top teachers Nicolai and Helena. This year there's the added attraction of learning French swing dance Sharoque.

Also bringing music to the stage will be soprano Emma Kirkby and clarinettist Emma Johnson, winner of the first BBC young musician of the year award. Opera Femina, a group of eight women, will perform twice, first staging Puccini's Suor Angelica and Pergolesi's Stabat Mater and later the opera Hansel and Gretel which will star youngsters from Grassington Primary and Upper Wharfedale cluster of schools.

Coming all the way from New York are Cherish The Ladies, who won the best band prize in the BBC Radio 2 folk awards this year, and adding more of an international flavour is the Vayu Naidu Company who will present a multicultural performance of storytelling, contemporary dance and southern Indian music.

A performer who hails from nearer to home is singer and songwriter Claire Teal, who was brought up in Kildwick and is now a rising star on the British jazz scene.

The 2003 Grassington Festival kicks off on Friday June 13, ending on Saturday June 28.

Leaflets giving full details of the festival programme are available from local libraries, tourist information centres and other local outlets, or log onto the website www.grassington-festival.org.uk