MORE than 40 town criers from around the globe will descend on Chester this summer for the third World Town Crier Tournament – part of the 2010 Chestival festival.

Arriving on June 13, town criers from as far as the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as well as Europe will be competing for the title.

Each town crier will cry three times before the best 12 are selected to compete in the final.

The first round of the competition, sponsored by The Coach House Hotel, will take place on Tuesday, June 15.

The second round, sponsored by Northgate Church , will take place on Thursday, June 17 with entrants proclaiming the attractions of their home towns.

Chester’s town crier and event coordinator David Mitchell, said: “The standard of crying and the level of competition is very tough.

“We are marking on five different categories including, volume and clarity of cry, diction and inflection, which is pitch, confidence and bearing, content of cry and finally how they engage with the audience.”

The final will take place outside the Town Hall on Saturday, June 19, where 12 finalists will be chosen to make their last and final cries.

Rita Waters, chief executive of Chester Renaissance, added: “When David first approached Chester Renaissance to support him in this venture I could see straight away the huge impact it would have in our city, bringing both tourists and therefore, tourism spend.

“We have been working with David and our other partners to make sure the event is world class and delivers a fun and entertaining week-long spectacular for contestants, visitors and residents alike.

“Chester Renaissance was set up to drive momentum and bring added value to efforts to complete and accelerate the economic growth of Chester.

“This event will certainly help get our message across to a wider audience and promote Chester as a must-see European city.”

The Chester World Town Crier Tournament is a free event that is part of Chestival, the city’s new cultural extravaganza running from June 11-July 14.