VISITOR figures to the city have once again soared in the second week of Chestival, organisers have revealed.
Those behind the the month-long celebrations say more than 139,000 people came to the city for Vaudeville Weekend – up 36,000 from last year.
The numbers suggest the festival will easily pass last year’s total amount of visitors, after the first weekend also saw an additional 20,500 people.
Events included the outdoor cinema, which showed four films over two days, attracting 865 spectators and bringing the total cinema audience to 1,837.
Director of Chestival, Tracey Lynn, added the Chester Mystery Plays in Miniature saw four performances over three days bring in more than 5,000 people. The Saturday evening show and Sunday magic show were both sell outs, the other two shows were at 70 per cent capacity,” she said.
“Just under 600 people attended the shows.
“The Insect Circus installation outside the Town Hall was extremely busy and the owners commented that they hadn’t been this busy for a while.”
The Midsummerwatch Parade, which worked with 10 local schools and 400 students, saw 120 performers taking part, including 40 musicians.
Still to come this week are several more outdoor cinema events and on Tuesday, June 28, there will be an audience with Stuart Maconie.