THE spirit of the Olympics was felt at The Rye yesterday as sports clubs, the community and music groups came together.

Despite a few showers The Wycombe Community Festival stayed dry for most of the day and hundreds headed to The Rye to see what was on offer.

As well as sporting activities and community groups there was also an 80ft LED screen as part of one of four London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Community Live Sites in Buckinghamshire.

From 12pm it showed scheduled Olympics, including the final of the men's 100m.

Leader of Buckinghamshire County Council, Martin Tett, said: “I think the whole country has been caught up in the whole Olympic spirit. Two weeks ago we still had the moaners. Now no-one is complaining.

“Everyone has come together as a country and I think it is wonderful.

“As a host county we really want people to feel involved in it and part of it. We want people to feel this is their Olympics.”

He said the community festival gets everyone involved and children and adults alike are able to try sports they wouldn’t normally be able to.

There were many sports groups in attendance showing what they have to offer including Kobika Dance, Zumba La Casa, Micklefield Judo Club and Wycombe Hockey Club.

Jane Moore from the Booker Gliding Club was there with other members to promote the sport. She said: “Our message is there is more to gliding than you think and everybody can do it. And we are local. We are just up the road.”

It runs from the Wycombe Air Park. For more details go to www.bookergliding.co.uk.

Ellen McIvor and Geri Moore were there from England Netball. Geri said: “It is a really great idea. There has been lots of interest.”

She said the Netball Club at the Kingsmead Netball Centre is one of the most popular she is involved in.

There were also community groups such as Arts4Every1, High Wycombe Town Twinning Association and The High Wycombe Society.

Yvette Thomas, Children’s Policy and Equalities Manager for BCC said: “I think it is brilliant. It is a way of showcasing not only young people and their talents but also sporting activities- piggy backing the Olympics and promoting community cohesion.

“It is not just one particular community. It is lots of different people and that is really nice.”

Wycombe District Councillor Trevor Snaith said: “It is absolutely brilliant. A lot of local town people are here. We need more community events in Wycombe.”

WDC cllr Ian McEnnis said: “It is nice to see this in the town. It is so diverse. Everyone has got their own interests. To take something like this and bring all that diversity together is brilliant.”

All activities were free and ran until 6pm and the festival continued until 10pm, finishing with the men's 100m final. There was music and entertainment on stage and stalls selling food and drink, The Wycombe Community Festival, which has been running for the last six years, is organised by SV2G and funded by Wycombe District Council.