ANONYMOUS FESTIVAL is youth-led, supervised and run by us – the members of Dorchester Youth Extra.

Young people locally had almost no access to live music, whether just listening or performing, so DYE decided to change that.

Since 2009, we’ve been in charge of Anonymous, which is held every year at Maumbury Rings.

And today it’s back again!

This year’s Anonymous festival is going to bigger and better than ever.

More music, more activities and more fun.

Every year the event grows and we are confident that there will be stuff for people of all ages, so come along and enjoy.

To top it off, it’s completely free – and we all know that’s a bonus when you’re a student.

Dorchester Town Council stepped in to help us and offered the use of the venue, infrastructure and funding to make Anonymous happen.

West Dorset District Council has also helped to organise and fund the day.

This year’s line-up is the best ever.

On the main stage we have an array of fantastic local bands and performers, such as The RPMs, who played at Glastonbury this year.

They will be joined by the amazing J-Cats, who have performed at Camp Bestival several times and, for the first time, will be appearing at Bestival on the Isle of Wight in September.

Further brilliant headline acts include Saturday Sun, Six Days, Vox Public, The Pickups, Nick Capaldi, Julien Short and Fenne Rainbow.

In addition we have a bunch of talented young people lining up to showcase their musical skills at the Open Mic café.

Although Anonymous is centred on music, it also showcases local dance groups and offers entertainment from professional circus performers.

Plus, the festival offers a great range of activities, workshops and stalls including a chance to try your hand at slacklining with the Maverick Slackers or free running with Train Hard.

Or you can create an original piece of graffiti art to take home, bounce about body zorbing or just buy yourself an ice cream, pull up a deckchair and chill out with your mates.

And new to the festival this year is the Anonymous Travelling Market which brings a range of quirky new stalls to the event.

The festival shows young people and their talents in a positive and shining light and inspires others to get involved and show off their skills.

I hope you can join us.

By Chloe Lovell, age 16