A WEEK-LONG celebration is to mark Derbyshire County Cricket Club's 140th anniversary this season.

The first Derbyshire Festival of Cricket is to come to the County Ground from July 15-21, with five fixtures as the main focus alongside a host of other attractions.

The festival idea stemmed from the fact that it is 140 years since Derbyshire played their first official match as a county side but has since blossomed into a wider celebration of Derbyshire life.

Chief executive Keith Loring (pictured) says he hopes people will come to enjoy the cricket first and foremost but also wants those who have not been to the ground for some years to take a fresh look.

"The club has come quite a long way in the last few years," he said.

"We have spent over £1m on the ground but some people still have a pre-conceived idea about how the ground looks and we want them to come along to find out how far we have moved on.

"It's very unusual to have a festival at the main county ground but there is no reason why not.

"We think this will be a good chance for us to show off the best of Derbyshire in as many ways as we can, not only in respect of how we have developed as a cricket club.

"Sometimes, I don't think we shout loudly enough in Derbyshire about what the county has got to offer and so we came up with the idea of having a festival that celebrates the county.

"We have this particular run of five fixtures in seven days that will showcase all aspects of cricket and so this seemed the perfect time to do it."

The festival begins with an international flavour, as England take on New Zealand in a women's one-day international on Thursday, July 15.

It is the third game of a five-match series, with England the reigning World Cup winners.

On July 16, Derbyshire Falcons will take on Northamptonshire Steelbacks under floodlights and, two days later on the Sunday afternoon, they will face Yorkshire Carnegie.

These two fixtures will be Derbyshire's last in the group stages of the Friends Provident Twenty20 competition and so could be crucial to their hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Between these two matches, on the Saturday evening, will be the club's 140th anniversary dinner at the Gateway Centre, with many past players in attendance.

On Tuesday the 20th, Derbyshire resume their campaign in the Clydesdale Bank 40-over competition with a floodlit game against Gloucestershire Gladiators.

The final official day of the festival will be Wednesday, July 21 – the opening day of the LV County Championship match against Worcestershire. This has also been declared a members' day, where Derbyshire members will be able to bring a guest for free.

There will be plenty happening off the field as well through the festival week, with attractions including falconry demonstrations, children's entertainment, a farmers market, marching bands, a rodeo bull and a surf simulator.

"The list of activities is growing by the day," added Loring.

"The intention is not to do anything to take attention away from the cricket but we hope to provide plenty to appeal to everyone to make it a week to remember."