THE Stroudwater Textile Festival, which previously took place every two years, returns this spring as a yearly festival, thanks to the outstanding success of the last festival.

"It was decided to make the Stroudwater Textile Festival an annual event as the central firecracker to a year long programme of events," said festival director Lizzie Walton.

"There are some very exciting initiatives being discussed by the Stroudwater Textile Trust that will roll out over the coming year."

Opening on May 1 and running to May 21, the festival will offer a rich programme of exhibitions, talks and workshops from 25 artists, historians, writers and collectors over the 21 days, focusing on memory and the language of textiles, text, sound and mark.

This year also sees the launch of a new, annual, festival commission, funding unusual collaborations.

Matthew Harris' stitched-and-dyed textiles will also be interpreted in sound by music director Karen Debonaire.

Traces & Echoes is a collaborative project that will use the human voice and sound to interpret Matthew's textiles, uniting the dynamic language of both music and visual art.

Other artists participating are Caroline Bartlett, with a new body of work, Sandi Leir-Shuffrey, Carole Waller, Lise Bech, and Mary Schoeser to name but a few.

A private house showing textiles from the Far East, Asia and China will be on show and for sale.

The festival is part of a year-long programme of textile related events. For full information and a brochure contact the festival office on 01453 752682 or visit the festival web site at www.stroudwatertextilefestival.org.uk