BEFORE the real thing, Warrington's own Festival of Football kicked off last week.

And Football fever will continue to sweep across Warrington's town centre every Saturday throughout the World Cup.

Organised by the Warrington Town Centre Partnership, the Festival of Football intends to bring the people of Warrington together in support of the England team.

The launch saw the Nike Freestylers performing some crowd-pulling stunts at Golden Square shopping centre, along with an inflatable football game, stilt-walking footballers and a craft workshop.

Other events to look out for throughout the festival include a primary school World Cup football competition (with each school taking on the guise of a country from the competition), large-screen showings of all World Cup games at Great Sankey, Fordton and Birchwood leisure centres, and alcohol-free screenings of all the England games at the town's Pyramid Centre.