TORRENTIAL rain may have affected attendance at the weekend’s Ways to Peace festival at Tintern Abbey but it certainly failed to dent enthusiasm.

Organisers and volunteers worked hard to rearrange things so that half the programme could be carried out under cover.

One of the highlights was a breathtaking display by six whirling dervishes against the backdrop of the Abbey ruins.

The only casualties to the weather were dance troupe Rubicon, who were forced to pull out because of safety issues over the slippery conditions.

“Given the awful weather we were happy that everything went ahead as planned and there was reasonable attendance at every event,” said chair of the Tintern Festivals Association John Clarke.

The festival - the first of its kind to be staged in Monmouthshire - was created by the Association in response to the United Nations annual day of peace, and also near the time of the centenary of the First World War armistice.

Tintern Abbey was chosen because of its long-term attraction for artists and poets, pilgrims and tourists as a place of tranquility and inspiration.

The two-day event included performers, speakers, dancers, musicians and choirs from many cultural backgrounds plus a variety of workshops and other activities.

Speakers included Satish Kumar, a former Jain monk and long-term peace and environment activist, and cultural ecologist Professor Herbert Girardet, while performers included kora player Mamadou Cissokho, Green poet Martin Kisko, Eisteddfod-winning choir Cor Caerdydd and the Renewal Gospel Choir.

There was also a strong community involvement, which included 43 local poets performing their work, especially written for the event.

As part of the Friday evening concert, composer and violinist Fiona Frank performed her solo work Nature in the Ruins, evoking the greening of the Abbey when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, and on Saturday led Parva String Quartet in three more of her compositions.

She also created a beautiful Earth Mandala below the East Window of the Abbey - an ancient symbol with circular patterns representing life and growth.