Tammy Gooding

BBC Hereford and Worcester

A cricket festival returns to Worcester this weekend, celebrating women and girls in the sport.

Megafest is Worcestershire Cricket Foundation's annual women's softball festival with teams from across the country competing.

This year, it aligns with the Worcestershire Rapids women playing at Worcester's New Road ground for the T20 Blast.

Player and girls' performance coach Jess Beach told the BBC it was "amazing to play there as we don't do it too often".

"We're really looking forward to showing what we can do," she added.

Ms Beach said it was really important more women and girls were inspired to get into the sport and she had noticed an increase in opportunities in recent years.

"When I was young, there weren't many girls playing," she said. "Now you can get so many teams at clubs which is really exciting to see."

T20 Blast is a new tournament for 2025, with 18 county teams from across England and Wales competing.

The festival takes place at a ground next to New Road, where the Women's Rapids are set to play the Derbyshire Falcons from 10:30 BST on Sunday.

"We've been working hard this week so hopefully we get a good couple of wins," Ms Beach said.

The Worcestershire Cricket Foundation said Megafest is "one of the biggest" soft ball festivals in the country.

"It's a chance to celebrate women's cricket," a spokesperson added.

Organisers said there would be a participation event focussed on fun as well as a new second competition festival, where a Megafest champion will be crowned.