Tickets for the award winning Deal Festival have been being snapped up after the box office opened at the Astor Theatre on Monday.

An impressive number of tickets were sold in the first hour.

Among the first customers were Christina Berry, from Deal, who was thrilled to get seats for the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, having failed to get tickets for their previous Deal Festival concerts.

Roger Hobbs, from Walmer, hasn’t been to festival events before but was excited to be able to get some tickets for the Ronnie Scott’s Big Band and Freddy Kempf with the Wiener Kammersymphonie on the last night.

Hugh Axton from Walmer said “I am a huge fan of the Ukes and I am very pleased to buy tickets for their concert this year. And in a different vein I managed to get tickets for the Academy of Ancient Music and the Guildhall School and Choristers of Canterbury Cathedral who are performing in St Mary’s, Walmer.”

The Deal Festival Box Office at the Astor is open from 9-5, Monday to Saturday.

Tickets can also be obtained via www.theastor.org and 01304 370220

n For more on the Deal Festival and other events in the district, turn to pages 38-39