SUNNY weather saw communities get into the summer spirit, with outdoor events taking place right across the region.

Tropical temperatures of 23 Celsius (73 Fahrenheit) on Saturday, and 24C (75F) yesterday meant bumper crowds at most events.

In York, budding chess grandmasters flexed their mental muscles at the city's annual junior chess tournament, in Parliament Street.

Shoppers and tourists watched the action on giant chess boards while young fans tested their skills on the various "fringe" boards.

The Lord Mayor of York, Coun Chas Hall, and the Sheriff of York, Coun Keith Orrell, attended and presented the winners with their prizes.

A short distance away, in St Sampson's Square, dancers were getting footloose in the city's yearly Dance Week York festival.

The festival took its first steps with an open air showcase on Saturday, featuring circle dancing, tap, ballet, hip hop and breakdancing.

A full programme of dance events will take place in the city this week, with a series of workshops organised at St John's College.

Professional dance group, Keep Moving Crew, are staging various movement exercise sessions during the week.

Janetta Maxwell, dance consultant for the City of York arts service, said: "The dance scene is massive in York. This has gone really well, lots of great dancing, lots of people along supporting."

Linton-on-Ouse residents were in the party spirit at the village festival.

As always, the scarecrow competition proved popular, but one of the main draws was cow pat bingo, back by popular demand.

Another party took place at Askham Bryan, where the village show was held on Saturday. A wide range of weird and wonderful events and attractions were on offer, including ferret walking, a reptile house, off-road driving, wacky tractors, and chainsaw use classes.

Phil Willis, MP for Harrogate, was guest of honour at the 38th Knareborough Bed Race, organised by the Lions Club.

This year's theme was TV programmes.

Residents of the East Yorkshire village of Wetwang had been counting down the days until their summer fair, which was opened by their Mayor, Richard Whiteley, host of cult Channel 4 quiz Countdown. Another top attraction was a hot-air balloon, hired for the day by organisers.

Meanwhile, a re-enactment of the 1644 Battle of Selby, complete with 300 soldiers, was one of the highlights at the Selby Fun Day yesterday.

The spectacle, organised by The Sealed Knot, took place on land behind Scott Road Community Centre as visitors to the annual celebration enjoyed the glorious weather.

Updated: 10:19 Monday, June 16, 2003