The Harrogate International Festival returned to the Royal Hall this week, a fitting celebration of the beloved building's return to glory.

Hugely respected musical figures launched the fortnight-long festival in bombastic style, filling the hall on consecutive nights.

Audiences were wowed by the Black Dyke Band, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Sir Neville Mariner's Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Clare Teal and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

William Culver-Dodds, the festival's chief executive and artistic director, said: "People have been absolutely thrilled to come back to the festival in the Royal Hall.

"We've had a sell-out audiences and ticket sales are ahead of target.

"At the jazz band on Saturday the audience were on their feet and having a parade around the hall. It was fantastic.

"It's been a really exciting opening week for us."

The event's second week will see the venue hosting the Czech National Symphony Orchestra tonight, Pepa Molina and Company on Sunday, John Lill next Tuesday, Zukerman Chamber Players on Thursday and Sa Dingding on Friday (all performances at 8pm).

Of course, it's not all about the Royal Hall. Further highlights include Tom Baxter tonight at Harrogate Theatre, 8pm,, the Jason Rebello Trio at the Crown Hotel on Monday at 8.30pm, Martin Taylor and Alison Burns at the theatre on Wednesday at 8pm, while St Wilfrid's Church hosts an 11am performance next Friday from the Barbirolli String Quartet.

As the town came alive with music, fiction fans were given a treat of their own with the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

Staged under the umbrella of Harrogate International Festivals, this annual celebration of criminal literature kept Harrogate's name in the spotlight with an entire edition of Radio 4's popular Front Row arts programme recorded at the event's headquarters at the Crown Hotel.

Presenter Mark Lawson is clearly a fan of the town, giving it regular, favourable mentions throughout the broadcast.

As usual, the event was a buzz with a variety of accents, visitors travelling from different parts of the world for this popular festival, now in its sixth year.

Renowned authors in attendance included Sam Bourne, Andy McNab, Jeffery Deaver, Young Bond novelist Charlie Higson and Hollywood script writer Robert Crais whose crime creation Elvis Cole is a massive seller in the USA.

The opening night saw Stef Penney's debut novel, The Tenderness of Wolves, beat strong competition to scoop the sought after Crime Novel of the Year prize.

Another of this year's highlights saw the resurrection of a few crime writing legends or, rather, today's writers pretending to be them.