Chester Performs organised its biggest weekend to date with record breaking numbers of audiences across four events in the city centre.

Nearly 3,000 people descended on to Chester to engage in the varied offer of cultural events and festivals between Friday and Sunday.

The line-up included the return of the MBNA Chester Music Festival for night only on Saturday, the opening of Glyn Maxwell’s The Wind in the Willows at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, free activities for families at the amphitheatre and the Roman Garden hosted Moonlight Flicks outdoor cinema.

Alex Clifton, artistic director at Chester Performs, said: “It truly was a weekend that offered something for everyone. We saw hundreds of families at the theatre and amphitheatre, groups of friends for Moonlight Flicks and classical music fans at the Cathedral. The summer will continue in this vein with packed weekend programmes scheduled.”

Organisers report nearly 500 under 12s took up the free ticket offer for Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, which also saw more than 300 teenagers enjoy the limited ‘teens for a tenner’ tickets.

Moonlight Flicks continues until August 29 with screenings of Drive, Mamma Mia, The Wizard of Oz, Grand Budapest Hotel, Roman Holiday, Paddington, Withnail and I, The Innocents, Some Like It Hot and The Big Lebowski.

Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre is also staging Romeo and Juliet and The Merry Wives of Windsor until August 23 and Family Saturdays runs until Saturday, August 29.

To find out more visit www.chesterperforms.com.