THE SIXTH annual Anonymous Festival has attracted more young volunteers than ever.

The Anonymous Festival, an event for and run by young people in Dorchester, took place yesterday, Saturday, at Maumbury Rings.

Around one hundred young people from Dorchester Youth Extra have volunteered to organise and run the free event.

Emma Scott, Community Development Officer for West Dorset District Council, organised the event with the help of the young volunteers.

She said: “We get more and more volunteers helping each year, this was the first year we had a website set up for the event which gave people a way to get in contact with us and the response we’ve had has been really positive

“This sort of event gives volunteers lots of different opportunities like if someone wants to have experience working in admin they can help with organisation, or if people want experience working with bands or helping with activities.

DYE raise all of the funds to run the festival which gives visitors a chance to take part in lots of activities and to see live music, all free of charge.

“The festival itself is going really well today, much better since the sun has come out!” Emma said.

“A lot of young people say they aren’t able to see much live music, often because a lot of gigs are performed in pubs, so we’ve given young bands, people under 25, a space to perform and other young people a chance to see live music as well.”

Activities on offer include craft workshops, an open mic cafe, body zorbing, slacklining, climbing wall and bouncy castle.

Nadine Gilbert, 21, has been volunteering at Anonymous Festival since it began in 2009 and now studies Events Management at Bournemouth University.

She said: “I love helping out at Anonymous, it’s got a really great vibe and a lot of people come to it even though it’s a youth thing and it’s nice to know we’ve had a part in something.

“I’m really grateful to have had the chance to watch it grow and change hands over the years.

“I definitely found that all of the volunteering I have done here s helped for when it came to getting into university.”

Jeff Andrews, a full time youth worker at the Dorchester Youth Centre said: “It’s been a really nice day and it’s nice to see so many young people having a go at everything.”

“It’s also great to see so many families coming down to support all the young people who are performing or getting involved.

“It’s a great event and I hope we can keep it going every year, it would be a real shame if we couldn’t continue it.”