Chester's first-ever Festival of Ideas was a roaring success with close to 100 free events attracting streams of visitors.

The festival, a new addition to Chester's summer calendar, was led by the University of Chester and its partners, running from Thursday, July 4 to Sunday, July 7.

Visitors enjoyed a variety of celebratory, entertaining, informative, and thought-provoking events, with Chester Town Hall alone receiving more than 1,000 attendees.

The festival offered numerous talks on a variety of topics, interactive activities, pop-up exhibitions, music and dance shows, guided walks, and more.

Festival visitors tagged the event as "brilliant", "excellent", "a fantastic idea" and "stimulating, novel and inspiring".

An number of qualified professionals and famous personalities appeared at the festival.

The Festival of Ideas team  (Image: University of Chester)

Those included actress, presenter, broadcaster, writer and parliamentarian Baroness Floella Benjamin, who holds an OBE, DBE and a Doctor of Letters from the University.

Joining her was historian, writer, broadcaster, presenter and filmmaker, Professor David Olusoga; Dr Gyles Brandreth, chancellor of the University of Chester, and Pulitzer-nominated journalist Carole Cadwalladr.

Events led by University staff and postgraduate students covered a range of topics such as the social lives of bats, fighting poverty and stigma, Old English, and Roman Handbridge.

Other contributors included representatives from Chester Cathedral, the Grosvenor Museum, local schools, and Chester Roman Tours.

Katherine Wilson, associate professor of Later Medieval European History at the University of Chester and lead organiser, said: "The Festival was an amazing four days filled with learning, ideas, inspiration, fun and celebration.

"After many months of planning and preparing, it was extremely rewarding to see all the smiles, to showcase our city, the creativity found here and its reach across the globe, and hear how much people have enjoyed the events.

"Thank you to all who were part of the Festival; everyone’s efforts are hugely appreciated.

"It couldn’t have happened and been the success it was without the support of partners from across the Cheshire community and beyond - from our planning team, steering group and guest speakers, to event leaders and volunteers - and without all our visitors’ time, enthusiasm and input.

“With our partners, we’ll now explore the potential for the Festival to become an annual event, so do watch this space for future years."