Friends, Romans and countrymen enjoyed a sunny weekend in York and North Yorkshire this weekend as activities as diverse as a Roman festival and a gliding competition took place.

In York hundreds of people gathered for the first Eboracum Roman Festival, which saw a legion of Romans invade the city's streets.

St Sampson's Square served as the stage for many activities, launched by a parade of soldiers who placed a laurel wreath on the statue of Constantine the Great outside York Minster.

Festival spokesman Tim Flanagan said: "It's the first festival and we can only build from here."

Meanwhile, fine tunes filled the air at Bustardthorpe Field, on Knavesmire, as York Arts Forum held two days of live music named AIR 2003, billed as the city's first open-air event of its kind.

Bands including The Animals and The Hamsters were showcased with a line-up of 16 live acts on two stages aimed at people of all ages, during the combined music and arts festival.

Colourful gliders were seen all over the skies of North and East Yorkshire as 33 experienced pilots took part in the Northern Regional Gliding Championships.

The event, based at Sutton Bank, will continue until Sunday with gliders completing tasks, measured by global positioning equipment, between Market Weighton and Masham.

Competition director Nick Gaunt said the participants could reach speeds of up to 60mph and travel more than 150km as they competed to go forward to the UK finals.

Updated: 10:14 Monday, July 28, 2003