YOUNG performers are due to take centre stage in a Faithful City arts competition.

Singers, musicians and actors as young as six years old are rehearsing for the Worcester Competitive Fes-tival being held at the Royal Grammar School.

Children of all ages who have spent the past year perfecting their art in the classroom will get the chance to show off their skills, whether it is playing the electric guitar or reciting Shakespearean soliloquies.

Alison Uren, chairman of the annual festival, said: "This year we have 630 entries.

"I expect some of the children will be nervous but nerves and excitement are often the same thing."

The competition will be judged by national experts such as Colin Touchin, once the director of music at Warwick University.

Members of the public are invited to the two-day festival between 9.30am and 5.30pm on Saturday, March 11, and Saturday, March 18.