IT’S probably the busiest weekend of the calendar in East Lancashire, with the last flurry of fairs, events and extravaganzas before families jet off on their summer holidays as the schools break up.

The Met Office says the weather will slowly improve through Saturday with Sunday drier, meaning everyone can pencil in any of the outdoor activities on offer.

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However, if you do fancy rolling around in mud then there’s the three-day Beat-Herder Festival, which is again taking over lands off Gisburn Road in Sawley.

The third Blackburn Canal Festival takes place at Eanam Wharf from 10am-6pm on Saturday and from 11am until 4pm on Sunday, celebrating the history of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.

Eanam Wharf will be packed with traditional and modern dance, live and recorded music, drama performances, face painting, bouncy castle, canal boat trips and artisan market stalls.

There will also be, for the first time, a classical concert from 6.30pm on Saturday.

At 10am on Saturday, Blackburn will stage the Leeds-Liverpool Canal’s first ever Colour Splash Run, with runners showered in powders of all hues.

Rawtenstall Annual Fair hosts it annual fair on Saturday between 11am and 4pm on the town square.

There will be a Summer Giants Strong Man Competition and Funday on Towneley Park in Burnley on Sunday between 10.30am and 5pm.

A Family Fun Day is being held on Witton Country Park on Sunday and Blackburn Town Hall Street Fair is being set up between 10am and 5pm on Saturday.

The Melody Man will be bringing a fairground organ to provide a traditional soundscape to entertain the crowds.

On Saturday night Thwaites Empire Theatre in Blackburn is hosting a Class Act Summer Showcase.

And members of the public are being invited to a 1940s day at Andrews Court Care Home, on Branch Road, Blackburn, on Sunday from 1pm. Hoghton Tower features a re-enactment of the Battle of Preston on Saturday and Sunday (10am-4pm).