FINAL preparations are being made ahead of next week’s Wye Valley River Festival.

The fortnight-long event, which starts next week, was last held in 2014 and attracted 20,000 visitors to a 60-mile stretch of the River Wye.

Launching in Hereford on April 29 the biennial festival will culminate in Chepstow on May 15 and aims to celebrate nature, culture, landscape and life along the river in the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The festival will use actors, singers, musicians and dancers to bring to life the central narrative and sweeping downstream creating magic, mayhem and laughter.

Under the artistic directorship of Desperate Men, there will be performances by the specially-formed Wye Valley Festival Choir.

Led by the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in collaboration with local communities, spectators can expect to see fire and flame, music, choirs, shows and performances before a finale at Chepstow Racecourse in May.

Among the highlights are a travelling performance and activity space –the Wye Serai- which will be created around three caravans as well as river characters the Water Ones who will be wrangling in a comic chaos of pouring and spilling, singing and dancing.

During the festival spectators will see two arts installations, created with help from the local community- ‘Cymbals of the Valley’ by audio visual artist Dan Fox and ‘Luminous Birds’ by artist Kathy Hinde.

The festival arrives in Monmouth town centre on May 6 before making its way to Tintern Old Station later that day. On May 7 the festivities move to Monmouth’s Vauxhall Fields and then to the Wye Valley Sculpture Garden at Tintern on May 13 followed by Llandogo on May 14 where there will be theatre, music and food, torch bearers and musicians taking part in illuminations on the riverside.

The grand finale takes place between 2pm and 10.30pm at Chepstow Racecourse on May 15. The day will feature interactive games, a beast feast, a river-shaped fire sculpture and water stories.

Visit www.wyevalleyaonb.org.uk or follow Twitter: @wyebeauty #wyevalleyriverfestival