ORGANISERS said Darwen Gala was a success with a 'much better' turn out than last year despite some tent drama.

Last year’s gala failed to hit the expected heights as it shared the same time slot as the Darwen 1940s day, as well as poor weather.

Vice-chair of the gala committee, Kristy Wadman, said: “The turn out was much better than expected.

“The weather was so bad in the morning we thought we were going to have a repeat of last year’s poor attendance.

“But in the end we had well more than 1,000 people come down and there were spectators lining the parade route.

“It was a much better turn out than last year.”

The weather threatened to put an end to the gala’s main event, The Great Darren Bake Off, when the bake off tent blew away in the morning.

Mrs Wadman said: “We had a really lovely tent set up for the bake off, when it blew away we thought it was all over.

“Thankfully the staff in the beer tent managed to find some space for us, so we were serving tea and coffee, while they served alcohol.”

The day was popular with visitors both older young, as free buses to the field and Land Rover trips up to Darwen tower made the event more accessible.

Mrs Wadam said: “The kids were all sliding around in the mud, it was like a festival.

“The buses were a huge success, I think they made all the difference to the older visitors.”