Crowds of people descended on Skipton at the weekend to enjoy the delights of the town’s fifth International Puppet Festival.

The event, which ran from Friday to Sunday, featured 44 ticketed performances, most of which were sold out, and 33 street performances.

Many of the shows and street performances were held at the festival hub in Skipton's Coach Street car park and, on Sunday, hundreds of people lined the streets of Skipton to watch a colourful puppet parade.

“It’s brilliant,” said Laura Brown, of Horton-in-Ribblesdale. “There’s something for everyone and there’s so much to see.”

Festival administrator Clare Danek said it was a family-friendly event.

“We make people feel a part of it and Skipton really cherishes that,” she added.

Even the performers and puppeteers were appreciative of Skipton residents and other festival visitors.

“We were very glad to be invited to take part in this festival,” said Ana Lorite, who manipulated a puppet that she carved herself while staying in Grassington. “The people here are very nice. Usually we don’t have audiences who are this kind.

“The Skipton area is a really inspiring place, but maybe I thought that we brought the sun with us from Spain.”

Clare added: “We couldn’t have wished for a better festival. It’s been a great weekend and there’s nothing that we would have done differently.

“People came from all over the country and across Europe, which demonstrates that there’s a hunger for puppet shows.

“This was our first year of doing an online box office, which helped sell everything out before we started.”