CHIPPENHAM Arts Festival Association has been awarded £400 towards setting up a major new event in the town.

North Wiltshire District Council agreed on Monday to make the grant towards an annual festival in November this year to celebrate opportunities for arts and literature in the district.

Events will involve local artists and voluntary groups who will take part in a wide range of arts activities.

Chairman Geoff Endacott hopes the event will bring literature and the arts to a wide audience in the town, to give the town an event that will eventually match the festivals in Chippenham's neighbours, Calne and Corsham.

Potential events for the 2002 festival include performances by North Wilts Orchestra and Chippenham Cantata as well as music workshops.

Mr Endacott also wants to involve local schools, enrolling them in performances, workshops and visits.

The initial idea for a Chippenham arts festival came from the North Wiltshire branch of the University of the Third Age.

The idea was taken up by Mr Endacott and after a public meeting in September, the association was established with an elected management board.

The festival has already secured a grant of £12,000 from the Borough Lands Charity.

A festival office has been established at the Jubilee Building, and it is hoped a part-time festival director might be appointed in future years if the festival proves a success.

The district council also agreed to award £400 to Sutton Benger primary school towards the cost of employing an artist in residence to create a permanent mosaic art piece to celebrate the Golden Jubilee.

The workshop will form part of a week of activities involving members of the school and the local community.

The project is being organised to promote the visual arts in the village and provide young people and parents with the experience of working with a professional artist.

The Friends of the school have already raised £100 towards the project, and the school is applying for an Awards for All grant.

Chippenham area committee members had agreed not to provide financial support for Golden Jubilee celebrations, but agreed the project was not a one-off celebration but an arts project to create a lasting mosaic art piece.