THERE may have been quite a large music festival "down south" at the weekend but concert-goers in Ryedale did not miss out with three very different acts at Dalby Forest.

The Forest Live concerts run by the Forestry Commission, in aid of woodland conservation and development, kicked off on Thursday night with singer-songwriter Tom Odell, supported by Rae Morris.

Sell-out performances followed on Friday night with Paloma Faith, who appeared in Dalby two years ago, and was singing just 24 hours before a slot on the Pyramid Stage at that other festival, Glastonbury.

Also returning to the forest stage on Saturday was Paul Heaton who played with The Beautiful South at the venue 10 years ago.

This time he was accompanied by Jacqui Abbott to provide the perfect double act for Heaton's songs.

The favourites were all there to please the crowd from the Happy Hour and Caravan of Love through to Prettiest Eyes and Don't Marry Her - the non-radio version - along with a taste of their second album

Abbott's voice was memorising with a solo of Everybody's Talkin, while Heaton was a also a hit for his interaction with the crowd including antidotes about a picnic to Scarborough - cheese triangles anyone?

While most of the crowd were certainly around in The Housemartins' heyday, Heaton's fan base had certainly stuck with him and were still able to show the youngsters how to have a good time.

With two encores and a crowd selfie, Heaton and Abbott looked happy to play all night, but the sun was setting on another success Forest Live concert for this summer.

Organisers of the concerts said about 13,500 people had enjoyed the three days of live music.

Tanya Rex, recreation and public affairs manager at the Forestry Commission, said: “Our Forest Live concerts went really well again this year and the acts were a huge hit.

"People with different musical tastes and whole families were able to enjoy the shows in our beautiful forest setting. For us, it was a chance to open up the forest to new audiences and show them how special Dalby is.

"In total we think that 13,500 people came through the gates and a good proportion of them were staying over locally, which is great news for local businesses too. We’d also like to say a big thanks to our friendly and enthusiastic staff and volunteers for all their help over the weekend.”