What an amazing week it has been in South Lakeland.

The area has seen a series of massive public events, which have attracted thousands of spectators.

First of all there was the Westmorland County Show last Thursday. This event just gets better and better and this year, as well as being graced by the presence of royalty for the first time with VIP guest the Countess of Wessex, more than 30,000 visitors converged on the Crooklands showfield.

With barely chance to catch breath, the area hosted the Torchlight Carnival in Kendal on Friday evening.

The event, cancelled last year, was back with a bang with an estimated crowd of 25,000 thronging the streets of the town to watch the colourful floats and marching bands. Local cafes and takeaways will have reaped a huge bonanza.

Saturday saw 250 swimmers from as far afield as Cornwall, Devon and Inverness take part in Chillswim Coniston, the UK’s first mass participation length of lake swim for both wetsuit and non-wetsuit swimmers.

Later that day 10,000 people packed into UIverston to watch the lantern procession, the finale of the town’s Charter Festival.

And if that wasn’t enough, Cumbria hosted Stage Two of the Tour of Britain on Monday, with thousands of people watching the world’s best riders race through the beautiful Lake District landscape.

That event, which it is estimated will bring up to £7 million into the local economy, was televised to more than 130 countries worldwide, raising the area’s profile internationally.

In these days when perhaps the popular impression is that everyone is glued to their various electronic gadgets, it is heartening to see that major sporting events and good, old-fashioned, community-based shows and carnivals still have the power to entertain and pull in massive crowds.

The success of these many events is also testament to the hard work, commitment and enthusiasm of the organisers, many of them volunteers, who go out of their way to help give people a good time.