FAMILIES from all backgrounds came together for the climax of the popular Blackburn Children’s Literature Festival.

Hundreds of children, parents and grandparents attended the Families and Communities Day in Blackburn’s King George’s Hall where they were treated to interactive and creative presentations by authors, illustrators and even a rap poet.

Organiser of the free event, Christina Gabbitas also presented St Silas Primary School pupil Fatiha Khanom with a poetry competition award, which had been run in conjunction with the River Ribble Trust.

The competition was open to pupils from all 52 primary schools in Blackburn with Darwen to write an eight-line poem about the work of the trust.

Ms Gabbitas, a successful children’s author and poet and former Blackburn schoolgirl, said it was great to see all communities come together to enjoy literature.

She said: “It has gone really well. We have had a really steady stream of visitors."

Among the speakers were rap poet Donavan Christopher; authors Hillary Robinson, Nigel Womack, Andy Seed and Salma Zaman; and illustrator Liz Million.

Anisa Patel, a teacher who attended the event with her four-year-old son Muhammad-Amin, said: “This is the second time we have been. It’s just amazing.

“It’s encouraging the younger ones to sit and read in a different way. I am a primary school teacher myself and I understand the importance of youngsters having their literature skills by the time they finish primary school. Events like this will help.”

Lee Anderson, from Earby who attended with his seven-year-old daughter, said: “We found out about this through Facebook and it’s something a little bit different for a Saturday. There were lots of different interesting and interactive things going on and it catered for all different ages. We enjoyed it.”

There were also numerous stalls run by local authors and illustrators.

Blackburn illustrator Kiren Khan said: “It has been really good. It’s my first time here but I have been impressed by the turnout. It’s got children together enjoying reading and illustration.”

Ms Gabbitas said the success of the festival, which was funded by partners including Blackburn with Darwen Council, The Ribble River Trust, Blackburn Chemicals and Blackburn BID, showed there was a real desire to get children reading from an early age.

She said the aim of the festival was to impress on parents, with children from all backgrounds, cultures, and abilities, the importance of books and reading, not just educationally but socially and emotionally.

As part of the wider festival, which started on Tuesday and ran until Saturday, 1,600 youngsters took part in schools fest sessions at Blackburn College and Blackburn Library. They were given book tokens which could be redeemed at the family and communities day.

Michael Bradley, of The Undertones, travelled from Ireland to take part in the event, which also featured a series of poetry workshops held in Blackburn Museum on Friday, to coincide with World Poetry Day.