The annual gala is going from strength to strength just 12 months after it was feared it could be axed for ever due to a lack of funding and increased red tape.

* Click here to sign up to free news and sport
email alerts from Middleton Today.

The festival committee is hoping for bumper crowds for the festival on Saturday, June 27, at playing fields on Grove Road, opposite the Penny Hill Centre.

The event will be opened at noon by Deputy Lord Mayor of Leeds, Coun Andrew Barker.

* Click here for Middleton Today's Community Directory, where you will find basic information on a wide range of local community groups and organisations in Middleton, Hunslet and Belle Isle.

The gala this year is split up into various zones which include a Workshop Zone, where youngsters can take part in circus skills with Rumples the Clown and learn theatrical sword play fighting.

* Click here to become a fan of Middleton Today on Facebook.

In the Children's Zone there will games and a Punch and Judy show.
In the Sports Zone there will be demonstrations from a karate group and the Hunslet Club, includes cheerleading, as well as an appearance by
Paul McShane of Leeds Rhinos.

There will be performances in The Family Zone from Lynbar Majorettes, The Keldon School of Dance and The Tailwaggers Club will be showing some canine skills with music.

Irish Dancers, the semi-finals of the I Love South Leeds Junior Superstars and local rock band The Response will perform live on the stage in The Music Zone.

Other attractions include go-karts, inflatables and bungee trampolines.
There will also be a wide variety of foods to sample from the different
communities in the Hunslet area.

The event finishes at 4pm.

Middleton Today reported last summer that the festival committee was finding it a struggle to raise the £2,500 needed each year for insurance and other essential facilities.

Following an appeal, contributions from two local companies were secured to ensure its future

Ian Logan, festival publicity officer, said: "The gala is crucial to the area because it is a chance to bring all the community groups together for the day.

"There are a lot of single-parent families in the area and others with not much money to spend and there is a need to give people a good day out that doesn't cost much."

* For more information visit: www.hunsletfestival.org.uk