ALTHOUGH the rain poured, the crowds turned out in force to this year's Pershore Plum Festival.

Hundreds of people braved the downpour at this year's festival, which kicked off in Pershore on Saturday and ended with a big finale yesterday (Monday).

Despite relentless rain, locals and people travelling from further afield turned out to support the event, which has taken place in the town since 1996.

Sadie Downey, of the Outdoor Pig Company, said she was impressed with the turn out once again.

"Last year we had a stall here and the rain was worse — it was torrential," she said.

"But once again people have still come out to show their support for the festival and local traders, which is wonderful to see. I say fair play to everyone who braved the rain."

Bands and singers performed in different venues across the town, including in 'Plum Alley' next to Asda and outside the Abbey.

Stalls selling crafts, food and drink, a variety of plums and more lined the streets and an indoor craft fair provided shelter from the rain.

In Pershore Town Hall, people could speak to renowned antiques expert Henry Sandon about any potentially valuable plum memorabilia they had.

The hall was also the stage for a number of exhibitions on Pershore's famous fruit and the town's role in the First World War.

Jenni Waugh, project co-ordinator for World War One in the Vale, said people had shown a lot of interest in the displays.

"Our display basically tells people what they won't find in the history books that tend to focus on the soldiers. Our display is all about the farming of the land when the men went to war and how the women and children kept things running," she said.

"Pershore really helped the soldiers. They needed to eat 3,000 calories per day, so would constantly be eating plum jam from Pershore.

"Our display has tied in brilliantly with the festival, which is always fantastic. We've had a lot of people come in and share their stories with us and memories of their families involvement with picking the plums and manning fruit markets."