ORGANISERS of a ten-day festival celebrating the heritage of a national park are launching an event to help children learn about the traditions of the countryside.

The Festival on the Moor was first held in 2002 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the North York Moors National Park.

The festival highlights the cultural heritage of the moors through traditional music and dance and is organised by folk singer Richard Grainger.

Performance venues range from village greens and open moorland to pubs, tea shops and village halls.

This year's festival will get under way on September 2 with a concert at Osmotherley village hall.

On September 3, the children's festival will be launched. It will take place in and around Danby village hall from 11am and will give youngsters the chance to take part in arts and crafts workshops.

Among the activities will be watercolour painting workshops, an informal traditional dance workshop, storytelling and face painting.

In the afternoon, there will be a Young Roots concert where up-and-coming musicians will take to the stage for a short programme of music, song and dance.

Among the performers will be ten-year-old Miryam Day, of Danby, who has been working on a set of three folk tunes for the piano especially for the occasion.

The children's festival will be rounded off with a family ceilidh from 8pm in the village hall.

The festival, which runs until September 11, is supported by Arts Council England, Scarborough Borough Council, Ryedale District Council, North Yorkshire County Council and the North York Moors National Park Authority.

Andy Wilson, chief executive of the park authority, said the festival has become an important annual event for the area: "The event has provided a rich array of artists and brings a wonderful variety of music to beautiful locations across the North York Moors."

"It has also brought a much-needed boost to the local economy at a time when the area is still not fully recovered from foot-and-mouth disease."

More information about the children's festival is available from the festival office on (01287) 660200.

Tickets and programmes are available by calling the same number.