Good music and a family friendly atmosphere were the key to Aspatria Music Festival’s success.

The three-day event hosted bands such as Scouting For Girls, Doctor And The Medics, Colt 45, The Scumbrians, The Rucksacks and Zen.

Jonathon Bragg, 20, of Aspatria, said: “It’s an absolutely brilliant festival. I’ve been here all weekend and the atmosphere has been great. Here you get to know everyone.

“The acts were great, there was a good mix, but my favourite was Scouting For Girls.”

The band headlined on Friday night and made time to meet fans from Carlisle’s children’s hospice Jigsaw. They signed programmes and had their photos taken with the youngsters.

Lead singer Roy Stride was instantly taken to the crowd’s hearts when he said “Hello Spyatri”.

He said: “It’s been amazing. It’s so different to playing a big festival, where you don’t meet anyone. The location is beautiful, the organisers are great.

“It’s a different vibe at smaller festivals like this. You get to meet the local people and hear about local charities like Jigsaw.”

Mark Hewitt, 53, of Aspatria, said: “There were few bands I wouldn’t listen to. I come here every year and I enjoyed the good selection of music.

“My favourites were The Buyers Club, The Rucksacks and Mel Kinsella.”

Children also had their dedicated area with rides and bouncy castles.

Wendy Metcalf, 35, of Aspatria, was there with her husband and her two small children. She said: “It’s a really good festival and the children had a great time, there’s plenty for them to do, they love the rides.”

The festival closed on Sunday with headline act Doctor And The Medics, who are celebrating 35 years. Lead singer Clive Jackson, aka The Doctor, said: “We never thought we’d be going for this long as we started out as a bet.

“Life’s not brilliant on the whole for everyone at the moment so anything that brings the community together like this helps everyone. Aspatria is a great venue.”

The band appeared at the festival two years ago and were brought back after a request from organiser Colin Rumney’s daughter Faith.

Colin said: “It’s been a fantastic weekend with near-capacity crowds. We’ve had some great bands and we’re really grateful to all the local acts that turned out.

“Scouting For Girls brought the house down on Friday night, Zen were an amazing 80s band to have, Marquis Drive were headlining on Saturday and they were a fantastic end to the day. The sun shone on Sunday, bringing lots of families in, and we topped off the night with an outstanding set from Doctor And The Medics.”