FINDING something for the children to do over the summer is a perennial nightmare.

So parents should be delighted with tomorrow's Young Children’s Festival at Colchester’s Castle Park.

Situated on the lawn area beside the new playground in the Upper Park, the festival is crammed with ideas, workshops and games to keep the little ones, and not so little ones, amused.

This year the theme is Talk Matters – All Together Now, tying in with 2011 being the national year of communication.

There will be workshops on offer, including a chance to interact with a giant telephone courtesy of the Footprints Theatre Company and a craft workshop, where youngsters can make hello/goodbye flags in different languages. There will also be a Garden of Verse where children can compose poems.

The first Young Children’s Festival took place in June 1995, when a multi-agency forum for local children’s services decided to do something practical to support parents and carers with information and advice.

Organiser Ann Warner got involved with the festival in its second year and has been doing it ever since.

A registered child minder in Colchester, she explains: “The idea was to give children an inexpensive fun day out and, through that, spread the word about child services in the area.

“The first festival was a week long and was organised by a committee of volunteers and local development officers from Colchester Council and Essex County Council.

“The next year’s event was reduced to four days, but then the committee realised a one-day festival was the best way forward and this has taken place in the Upper Castle Park ever since.”

Each year the festival takes on a different theme. Themes have included Medieval Merrymaking, 2001 – A Space Oddity, Circusmania and Romans in the Park.

Ann adds: “There have been quite a few memorable moments over the years, including a dalek getting stuck in the mud, Klingons having a battle in the arena and a large crowd samba dancing around the castle.”

Today’s committee is now entirely made up of volunteers. Several have been there since the beginning, such as Ann, along with Pam Cook and Harriet Hill. Another long-serving volunteer, Catherine House, is no longer on the committee, but supports the festival every year.

Ann says: “Displays in the arena are hugely popular. The Valentine School of Dance delights the crowds year after year and the hospital radio has been a tireless supporter for many years.”

Although not a charity, the festival is a non-profit making event, with all proceeds being ploughed back into the festival itself.

Ann says: “Funding is becoming increasingly difficult to secure. Although Essex County Council has supported us from the word go with an annual grant, in these difficult times for the local authority, we are concerned this may be under pressure in the future.”

Ann adds: “As usual we expect to see hundreds of families in the park. It’s well worth it to see all the fun and pleasure the festival brings every year.”

The Young Children’s Festival is in Upper Castle Park, Colchester, tomorrow from 10.30am to 4pm and is free.