Kim BriscoeOrganisers behind a city community festival and classic car show are crossing their fingers for the weather to stay fine for the event this weekend.Kim Briscoe

Organisers behind a city community festival and classic car show are crossing their fingers for the weather to stay fine for the event this weekend.

The Mile Cross Community Festival and Classic Vehicle Show will be opened by the Lord Mayor of Norwich at noon on Saturday at Sloughbottom Park.

It is the 29th Mile Cross festival, and organisers say it promises to be the biggest event they have held in recent years.

Highlights include arena performances, trampolines, BMX bikes and quad bikes, as well as bouncy castles and a mega slide.

There will also be plant stalls, tombolas, raffles, prize games, craft stalls selling locally made items, reflexology and head massages, face painting, temporary tattoos, graffiti t-shirts and the Future radio beatbox for teenagers.

Kevin Wymer, secretary of the Mile Cross Community Association which organises the event, said: 'A lot of hard work has gone into it and it's the biggest that we have done so far.

'We have opened it up to all of Norwich this year, which has been a really big success and means we have been able to bring in other groups.

'We're now just got our fingers crossed for nice weather.'

The festival had been facing an uncertain future, after the association revealed it was struggling to raise the annual running costs, which amount to more than �2,000.

However, following an appeal last summer, new members joined the festival committee and helped to breathe new life into the way it is run.

New for the festival this year is the classic car element. There will be a good selection of classic vehicles and some modern cruisers on the day for people to view and they will also be able to chat to the owners.

Music will come from the old fair organ supplied by Gordon Barbers Funeral Directors.

Refreshments will be available from several local vendors and city services contractor Connaught is supporting the event by providing the barriers for the arena, which has a full programme of action throughout the event, which ends at 5pm.

The arena programme includes a 'Scrufts' fun dog show iat 3.30pm, which is free to enter.

All dogs in the park must be kept on a lead and owners are being aksed to bring drinking water for their pets if the weather is hot.

Organisers are advising members of the public wishing to attend the festival by car that they will need to park around the Mile Cross estate, or along Whiffler road or the Sweetbriar Industrial Estate, as the car park at Sloughbottom Park will be closed for health and safety reasons.

The number 28 and 29 buses also stop right outside the park.

There is still time for people to enter their classic car, and community groups still have time to register for a community stall on the day.

Contact Kevin Wyer on 07880 846060 or via email mxca.norwich@ntlworld.com

Do you have a story about a community event? Contact reporter Kim Briscoe on 01603 772419 or email kim.briscoe@archant.co.uk.