THE RAIN should stay away for festival-goers throughout East Lancashire this weekend.

In temperatures of up to 20 degrees, for the first time Darwen’s clubs and bars will host a jazz and blues festival, kick-starting in the Market Square at 12.30pm on Saturday and continuing well into Sunday evening.

It’s also gala time for Darreners on Saturday, with the traditional parade making its way through the town from Anchor Park at 12.30pm, arriving at the Gala field in Borough Road at 1.30pm.

More than 60 stalls will be on the field along with a fun fair, climbing wall and the traditional charity rides in a landrover to Darwen Tower.

In Blackburn, the Highercroft festival is back on Saturday and Sunday, following it’s huge success last year, with a range of fun for the whole family.

From 11 am to 4pm there will events such as Higher Croft’s Got Talent competition, It’s A Knockout, and sumo football.

On Saturday, Ribble Valley Vintage Club has organised a vintage rally to pass through towns and villages around Pendle in memory of Andrew Nutter, of Sabden Fold, who died of bone cancer aged 40 last April.

The rally will start at Barroco’s resturant in Cuck-stool Lane, Fence, at 6pm, before travelling through Barrowford, Blacko, Roughlee, Barley, Sabden Fold, Newchurch and Fence.

All money collected will be donated to the chemotherapy unit at the Royal Blackburn Hospital and Macmillan Cancer Care.