THOUSANDS of people turned out for Ulverston's annual arts extravaganza the Lantern Festival.

Around 12,000 spectators spilled on to the cobbled streets on Saturday night as hand-crafted candle-lit lanterns converged from the four corners of the town.

Illuminated fish, fowl and slithering snakes bobbed along the streets as locals paraded their artistic interpretations of the festival's theme - Fur, Feather and Scales.

At Ford Park, festival-goers packed in to see Welfare State International's grand finale a huge mechanised dragon.

The story of the greedy giant unfolded to music and pyrotechnic displays as, to the crowd's horror, it guzzled baby birds, fish and cornfields before imploding and coming back as a mild mannered animal-loving dragon.

Peter Winston, of the Lantern Supporters Club, who said the grand finale was one of the most spectacular in the festival's history, declared the night a success.

"It was a great event and there has been really positive feedback," he said. "People made a really good effort - there were very few simple lanterns, people had decided to be very creative this year."

Sue Gill, of Welfare State International, said: "The finale was one of the most spectacular we have ever put on. Students from Channelside, in Barrow, got involved and Bruce Armstrong, from Ian Shaw, in Ulverston who was driving the dragon - did a wonderful job with the choreography."

She added: "Around 2,000 people got involved in the lantern-making workshops and produced around 700 imaginative lanterns. It's the highest standard of lanterns we have seen we were astonished."

The Lantern Festival marked the end of this year's Charter Festival, which has included more than 30 different events.