A FESTIVAL marking the two year countdown to the London 2012 Olympics and celebrating Caribbean heritage and culture took place today.

A range of music and performing arts groups showcased their talent at The Wycombe Community Festival, run by Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2nd Generation (SV2G).

It was one of many events around the country marking two years before the Olympics begins.

Among the guests were Wycombe MP Steve Baker, Ian Barham, the Buckinghamhsire Manager for the 2012 games and former Marlow Mayor Cllr Maurice Oram.

Jackie Roberts, chair of SV2G, said: “ Wycombe Community Festival is part of the cultural Olympiad and that’s a celebration weekend to mark the count down of the London 2012 Olympics.

“It’s very important and I hope the event brings the community together and gets them starting to think about London 2012.”

She praised The Wycombe Steel Orchestra, who have received an Inspire Mark from The Olympics committee - a badge of excellence.

The group were among many performers on the day. They have performed for the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Prince Edward and at the Olympic handover event at Stoke Mandeville.

The festival was hosted by Sir William Ramsay School in Rose Avenue, Hazlemere.

Mrs Roberts added: “I would like to thank the school because they have us the building to use.”

Sir William Ramsay School governor John Bajina, 60, from Penn, said: “It’s an event to foster cohesion but importantly for everyone to enjoy themselves.”

Wycombe MP Steve Baker said: “People are very excited about London 2012, obviously being close to it we try to be excited by it “One of things I was discussing earlier is things are changing and people are getting more used to freely choosing to have more to do with one another and be less reliant on state control.

"And anything like this that brings people together as a freely formed community is good.”

Charity Wycombe Youth Action, which has been going for 25 years, was one of the organisations represented at the festival.

Andy Sharp, 23, a Positive Activities for Young People key worker, said: “We’re here today promoting the things we do so the young people in Wycombe can see what we do.

"There are all kinds of activities they can do over the summer with us like paintball and street art.”

For more on the 2012 Olympics, The Wycombe Steel Orchestra and Wycombe Youth Action see links below.