MUSIC fans still got all jazzy despite terrible weather.

Dozens of venues hosted performances at the weekend as part of Marsden Jazz Festival.

Christine Turton, of Cowlersley, was among the crowd watching Ripon Grammar School Big Band outside Marsden Mechanics yesterday afternoon.

“I’ve been coming to the festival for years,” said the 67-year-old.

“I think it’s great because there’s something for all ages.

“This morning I went to Marsden United Church and saw Winston’s Pennine Jazz performing. The service is always packed.

“I also enjoyed Blackley Music Centre Band from Manchester.”

Mrs Turton was not put off by the rain.

“The weather had been quite good for the past few years but I come no matter what the weather,” she said.

Ken Hickin, 63, had travelled from Blackpool to enjoy the festival.

“This is my eighth year,” he said.

“There’s such a wide variety of music that you can see anything. A lot of jazz festivals only deal in one type of jazz.”

Mr Hickin added: “I think the atmosphere in Marsden is special. You have a whole range of different venues, both indoor and outdoor.”

Alison Gorf, who serves on the festival committee, said the event had been a success despite the wet weather all weekend.

“Sales have been very good this year,” she said. “We’ve had some sellouts. We’re really pleased we’ve had a good audience despite the weather.

“The New York Street Band have been entertaining people in the rain and the majority of our outdoor events have been in the marquees on the bridge and outside the Mechanics.

“All the events have gone ahead. We haven’t called anything off because of the rain and people don’t seem to have been put off by the weather.”

Ms Gorf added: “We’ve tried to broaden our appeal this by giving new bands an opportunity to play so it’s really good that some of the New Stream events have sold out.

“A lot of the regulars like to come back every year because they really enjoy it. The committee also gets a lot of demo tapes from new bands who want to perform.

“We try to get a mix of acts to appeal to all ages.”

This year’s festival included the usual array of established artists such as Kenny Ball, Ben Crosland, Liane Carroll, Asaf Sirkis and Soweto Kinch.

But the festival’s New Stream, presented new acts including Stuart McCallum, World Service Project, Olivia Moore and Richard Ormrod.