THE county is about to get a lot more colourful next week, as the annual Oxfordshire Artweeks gets under way.

The event will feature more than 500 free displays and events throughout the county, ranging from group exhibitions in large public spaces, to individual artists showing in their own homes.

Director Esther Browning said: “It’s all going very well. Most people are ready now, but we always have a last-minute flurry before it starts.

“I’ve seen some very exciting things ready to go, so it’s going to be a fantastic event.”

Among the artists being featured will be one of the country’s top glass artists, Vital Peeters, who etches, sandblasts, paints and fuses glass.

Mr Peeters said: “I have been taking part in Artweeks for 20 years and it has always been great fun.

“There is a buzz. You always get lots of new people coming to look at your work and it is a great way to meet lots of people.”

He will be opening up his studio in Banbury Road, Oxford, as part of the event.

Guides for Artweeks are available from tourist information centres, branches of Hamptons, and libraries and are downloadable from artweeks.org The event runs from Saturday, May 5, until Sunday, May 27.