June 18, 2001 16:48: LOCAL music, art, drama and sport will be showcased during next month's Bushey Festival. The two-week festival will run from Friday, July 6 to Sunday, July 22.

It will feature a wide range of activities and performances for people of all ages.

The festival will kick off with a parade and carnival, organised by the Bushey and Oxhey Round Table.

The parade starts from Bushey Heath and ends at Bushey Hall School in London Road.

There will be a garden party, stalls, arena events, raffles, and competitions and prizes for children.

On Friday, July 6, Purcell Music School in Bushey will be putting on a concert and on Sunday, July 8, Bushey Rangers Youth Football Club is organising a football tournament for girls and senior ladies.

On the same day, there will be a five-mile festival walk for the public and a exhibition of art work by children from six Bushey schools.

On Tuesday, July 10, the London Schubert Players will be performing at the festival. The orchestra has performed at the Barbican, South Bank and St Martin-in-the-Fields, as well as at numerous music festivals.

At Falconer Hall, Falconer Road from Wednesday, July 11 to Friday, July 13, The Unvarnished Truth, a comedy thriller, will be performed by the St James Music and Drama Society.

Also on July 11, Professor Anthony Slinn will give a talk about the Impressionists at St Hilda's School in High Street.

Bushey Hall Pool is holding a pool bonanza on Friday, July 13 for under 14s, swimmers only. For details telephone 020 8950 6497.

For the under fives there will be a teddy bears' picnic, including story telling, face painting and a bouncy castle, on Thursday, July 19, at the King George Recreation Ground .

Also on Thursday, there will be a evening of jazz at the Herkomer Suite, Bushey Country Club courtesy of the Campbell Burnap Quinet.

On Friday, July 20, local artists Mr Terry Seabrook and Mr Ian Scott will present an evening of music and magic at The Bushey Centre.

On Sunday, July 21, there will be a service of thanksgiving at St Andrews Methodist Church in High Road, led by Reverend J Bramley.

From Saturday, June 23 to Sunday, October 28, there will be an exhibition of paintings and drawings of horses by Ms Lucy Kemp-Welsh and other Bushey artists at the Bushey Museum and Art Gallery, Rudolph Road.

There will be a Millennium embroidery and photographic exhibition at Bushey Museum, for more details telephone 020 8950 3233.

For further information about the Bushey Festival, telephone 01923 225699 or visit the festival website at www.festival.bushey.org.uk.