THE district's vibrant arts scene has been boosted by a lottery cash windfall which will create three new festivals to celebrate the millennium.

Lancaster and Morecambe will be one of the "hippest" places in the region during the year 2000 with a dance festival, a digital art festival and a people's festival bringing together dozens of artists with hundreds of local people.

All three arts projects are designed to appeal to all ages and abilities and organisers are delighted that their creative vision has been made possible by the awarding of lottery grants.

Folly Gallery in Lancaster has scooped £23,100 to stage a digital art festival involving 10 rural communities in North Lancashire.

A delighted Jonathan Hill said: "This festival will help move Folly in a new direction. We'll be exploring rural identities and how they are affected by new technologies. It will run in conjunction with Lancaster Litfest and we'll display the digital art in various ways from touch-screen kiosks to the internet. It's very exciting."

A People's Festival entitled "Tide and Time" will be staged by Lancaster and Morecambe Art Promoters Network thanks to a £21,000 grant. Exploring how the district has been shaped by its waterways, from the Bay to the river and canal, it will involve literature, music and dance to celebrate our heritage and folklore.

"We hope to stage the festival on midsummer night, 2000," said Jon Harris. "We're bringing together community artists with local people of all ages to explore how the tidal bay and river have shaped our local environment. It's brilliant that the district's art projects have attracted so much financial support."

The third millennium festival will use a carnival theme to celebrate the area's cultural diversity. Staged by Ludus thanks to £25,000 of lottery cash it will be aimed mostly at young people and will be called "Our Future, On Reflection."

It is hoped that all three festivals will become annual events boosting the district's festival season.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.