THE streets of Bolton were alive with the sound of music again this weekend as the town hosted the annual Busking Bolton competition. The contest's growing reputation attracted some of the best street entertainers in the North-west to show off their talents. A wide variety of acts took part in the competition, ranging from a traditional one man band to folk and rock groups, battling it out for a share of the £1,000 prize money.

Judges Cllr Gareth Butterworth, Cllr Maureen Connell and Andrew Warriner of Corus Brass were entertained through Saturday afternoon and impressed by the high standard of the acts.

First prize of £700 was awarded to Play the Dane, a guitar and vocal trio made up of John Stanton, Steve Murphy and Ben Cartilage from West Didsbury in Manchester.

Running them a close second were Bolton outfit River Poets, rock and soul duo John Gilroy and Nicola Rogers. They received £200.

Third prize of £100 was won by Flying Pastie, an alto saxophone and electric guitar duo from Salford.

Play the Dane were also presented with the Andrew Forster Memorial Trophy, which is awarded each year in tribute to a regular busking competitor who tragically died several years ago.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.