TRADERS hope to attract thousands of visitors to their city this weekend when they stage their annual summer festival.

On Saturday and Sunday, Durham City Centre Forum has lined up a wide range of entertainment.

The Vlaams Caledonian Society, from Ghent, in Belgium, will be performing Scottish music and dance in traditional costume at various times and venues.

The Regia Anglorium Anglo Saxon re-enactment society will give visitors an insight into life in the Dark Ages by recreating a Saxon village, on Palace Green.

On Saturday, there will be a busking competition in the Market Place and a display of quilts at Alington House, North Bailey. A Hungarian choir will also perform in the Market Place at 2.30pm.

Entertainment on both days will include Morris dancers, brass bands, performances by dance schools and a wide variety of musicians.

Eurocrafts is holding an exhibition of crafts, produced by local makers and designers, in the town hall on both days. There will also be more than 100 stalls open for business in the indoor market, and an outdoor market of farmers' and country produce.

The garden at Crook Hall, the Medieval manor, will host an exhibition of work by artist blacksmith Graeme Hopper and wood sculptor David Gross.

A park and ride bus service will operate from County Hall, Aykley Heads, to the city centre between 8am and 6pm on Saturday and from 10am to 6pm on Sunday.

For more details call Durham Tourist Information Centre on (0191) 384 3720.