ORGANISERS behind what is set to be the highlight of Cirencester’s summer calendar have appealed to young people in the town to get involved behind the scenes.

The Phoenix Festival, which rocked the Abbey Grounds last year, is set to delight audiences once again when it returns to Cirencester over the August bank holiday weekend, two weeks later than originally planned.

It was moved from its original date of August 16 and 17 to avoid clashing with the Tough Mudder event that is being held at Cirencester Park on the same weekend.

Claire Bartlett, one of the festival organisers, told the Standard: “We are in full support of new and exciting events coming to Cirencester so we were more than happy to change our dates.”

She also said that, while preparations for the two day festival are coming along great, the team would love to have more young people on the committee.

“We’ve currently got eight young people on our team but we would really love to have double that number,” she said.

“Working on the festival is really beneficial for them. They are picking up and learning new skills as they are going.”

Claire said that, while the team are currently working on the legal issues surrounding the festival, the young people are “really excited” about the band selection process in April.

“They are all looking forward to that part. We’ve had so many bands come forward who want to play. We are looking at choosing bands that both grandchildren and grandparents can listen to,” she said.

More than 18,000 people attended the Phoenix Festival when it was held in the Abbey Grounds last June.

The event, which was entirely organised by young people from the town, raised more than £7,000 through donations and CD and promotional sales.

Speaking last year, Cllr Mark Harris praised that youths who worked tirelessly to make the festival such a resounding success.

He said: “They really were absolutely fantastic. It really was a great community organised event – a really good example of a community coming together.”

Any people who would like to become involved with organising the 2014 Phoenix Festival should contact Claire Bartlett on 07894637710 or email clairelouisebartlett@live.co.uk.