THE Brentwood Arts Festival kicks off this weekend, and this year’s event will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War.

Beginning on Saturday (5th), and running right through to the following weekend (12th), the festival will bring a wide range of talent to the borough as well as showcasing the abilities of local people.

Art, theatre, film and poetry are just some of the performances and acts that will take place over the weeklong event in a wide range of venues.

Running all week at Brentwood Library will be an exhibition from the Brentwood and District Art Society’s Church Recorder Group, and is free to enter.

Brentwood Museum will host Lest We Forget on Saturday and Sunday, an exhibition marking the outbreak of the war and a guide to Lorne Road’s war graves. Entry is also free.

On Sunday, the Brentwood Shakespeare Company and Ingatestone and Fryerning Dramatic Club will perform Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Ingatestone Hall, with tea and refreshments being provided by the Brentwood Belles WI. Entry for the performance starts from £5.

Closing the festival next Saturday - July 12 - will be Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: a Mass for Peace.

The concert at the Brentwood Theatre will feature the likes of Hutton and Shenfield Choral Society, the Brentwood Philharmonic Orchestra and special guests the Royal British Legion Youth Band. Tickets start from £5.

For more information and full listings of the festival, visit www.brentwoodartsfestival.org.uk