Chippenham will be treated to three days of drama, music and dance with the Community Arts Festival springing up in several venues across town this weekend, as an extension of last year’s drama festival.

Hardenhuish School drama teacher Duncan Ellis, who has co-organised the event with Laura Graham-May, of Rag & Bone Arts, said: “It will hopefully snowball into something bigger and establish Chippenham as a viable place for the arts.”

Tomorrow (Friday) The Citadel will host an open mic night at St Andrew’s from 4-9pm, there will be a free Rag and Bone acting workshop, singalong with Chippenham Community Choir, monologues by Salisbury’s Bootleg Theatre Company and improvisation from Chimps.

Saturday sees Mozart operas at The Cause and a cabaret night at St Andrew’s, with storybook theatre from Rag and Bone Arts in the Yelde Hall and a free outdoor performance of Midsummer Night’s Dream by Hardenhuish Year 9s at the Buttercross at 12.30pm.

At the Astoria tomorrow and Saturday, there is another chance to see Kandu Arts’ feature film Bash Street from 2011, about youths in Chippenham. International clowns Le Navet Bete show off their skills at St Andrew’s at 3.15pm on Sunday, followed by a 7.30pm performance by Chile Beans Jazz Band.

Mr Ellis’ own theatre group, Noonday Demons, raise the curtain at The Cause with A Soldier’s Tale. Members of the cast have returned home from university to rehearse.

They open ahead of Green Stag Theatre’s 5pm production of World War One play Brotherhood. Tickets from Chippenham Visitor Information Centre or call (01249) 665970.