PEOPLE across the region are spending the week celebrating their heritage with a fun-packed agenda of Black Country Day events.

In Dudley crowds flocked to Stone Street Square on July 12 for a day-long festival of family entertainment including live music, street entertainers, a poets’ corner and a number of Black Country themed arts and crafts stalls.

The festival was the latest big show to mark Black Country Day today (July 14) which has created a boost in the region’s profile around the UK and across the world.

Councillor Pete Lowe, deputy leader of Dudley Council said: “We have been delighted to get behind the celebrations for Black Country Day and help ensure that people in the area feel proud about where they live.

“The Black Country Festival is a celebration of all that is great and good about our area, and we are absolutely delighted with how things have gone.”

During the weekend social media was packed with pictures of the Black Country flag on display in a variety of locations and the Black Country anthem, I Vow to Thee Black Country, by trio The Empty Can, has been to the top of the folk music best sellers list with online retailer Amazon.

The Black Country Festival was the brainchild of singer Garry Sawers, also known as Black Country Gaz.

He said: “The event at Stone Street Square, together with hundreds of other events taking place across Dudley and the Black Country, are the result of months and months of planning and hard work.

"I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone involved in the community and to Dudley Council for their support in bringing this vision into a reality.”