Tenby's Tudor Square was brought to life recently, when the square was filled with the infectious sound of Samba music played by local Samba band, 'Samba Doc.'

Dave Griffiths, president of Tenby and Saundersfoot Lions, accompanied by the Mayor of Tenby, Julie Evans, made their way to Tenby Harbour to open the Lions' annual Paella Festival. This modest group were soon joined by hundreds of curious holidaymakers eager to find out what was taking place.

Once at the harbour, Lion president Dave and Mayor Julie Evans opened the festival and thanked all those already there for attending.

The afternoon started with a performance by the charming Irish dancers who, as always, captivated the crowd, which by this point was several hundred strong! This set the trend for the rest of the day, with people not only drawn to the music, but the distinctive aroma of the paella that was being prepared traditionally by Miguel Gonzalez from his own Spanish recipe.

As the day progressed, music was provided by Cherie Morgan and 'Jules' from St. Florence, who sang in her first solo engagement in front of a large audience and delighted everyone there. John Butland and his band followed with a change of style, but equally enjoyed by all.

Ben Stone, from Radio Pembrokeshire, popped in, as he does each year, always keen to promote local events.

As the crowd moved from the stage to the paella, children with painted faces ran around in delight across the harbour eagerly trying to catch sweets provided by 'Lollies,' thrown to them by Matt the magic man, standing high above on stilts.

Claudio from the Giltar Hotel had the crowd cheering with his thrilling performance of balancing and bouncing golf balls, as seen on national television.

Local Air Cadets attended and several were asked about the Air Training Corps and as always the Cadets were full of enthusiasm for the Corps and could answer readily and with confidence.

Country and Western fans were delighted when Cherrie and Steel performed for them, responding to requests to sing their favourite Country ballads.

The bouncy castle provided by Rob Conroy was a favourite for the children and was in constant use throughout the day.

Another delight of the festival was the Pembrokeshire Tea stall which was busy with people curious about tea grown in Pembrokeshire and lots of them were eager to try this Pembrokeshire delight.

Another busy stall which proved to be a success was the excellent jewellery and local photography stall manned by Karl and Michael from the Giltar Hotel.

By now the throngs of people eager to try the wonderful paella had reached maximum capacity, but the paella preparation team was up to the challenge and three-foot pans of freshly made paella were arriving thick and fast.

The performance of 'Sounds Recycled' had the dancers from the crowd out in good form as they joined the group in front of the stage, and this was to carry on when 'Elephant Gerald' took over until the end of the event at 10 pm.

The day had been an outstanding success for the Tenby and Saundersfoot Lions, but it would not have been possible without the support and generosity of the following local businesses:

Celtic food; Event Management Services UK; Fecci's ice-cream; Four Seasons; Tenby House Hotel; The Market Butcher (Gurno); and Simon Safety.

To all involved, the Tenby and Saundersfoot Lions would like to say a huge thank you!

Tenby and Saundersfoot Lions meet at 7.30 pm on the first Monday of each month at the Giltar Hotel, Tenby.