BUDDING rock stars went down a storm at a gig in front of hundreds of people.

Children as young as six took to the stage at Langdale Hall, in Langdale Gate as part of the Witney Music Festival.

The 60 performers are members of Witchwood School of Rock, a group based in Milton-Under-Wychwood which aims to nurture the musical talents of youngsters.

Events organiser Mike Dove said: “It was an absolutely phenomenal experience, with in excess of 300 people watching.

“It seemed that people really embraced it.”

Children from 13 bands performed, including Burning Ice, The Devils and Elm.

The youngest band was Bonkers, which consisted of six-year-old Summer Wyatt-Buchan, eight-year-old Izzi Evans and eight-year-old Charlie Artus.

More than half of the 40-strong cast of a side project Witchwood School of Rock is producing performed snippets from their forthcoming musical David Versus Goliath.

Mr Dove said the rock musical, which tackled the issue of bullying, was being performed at the end of April and beginning of May.

He said: “We gave David Versus Goliath a bit of a sneak preview and showcased the cast.

“Every single one of the cast got up and performed better than expected.

“We thought with their first performance of the musical there could have been nerves, but they really got into it and did their thing.”

Mr Dove added: “It was a massive event for West Oxfordshire.

“It just shows how much musical talent there is in the area. We were absolutely blown away with the fact that we had around 300 people to showcase that to.

“We want to play like that every year.

“We want to thank everybody who made it possible, especially T4 Cameras, who sponsored us, and Derek West of the Witney Music Festival.”

witney@oxfordmail.co.uk A Witney School of Rock is due to launch at Henry Box School in May.