PICTURES: Mel C rocks the Flag Market at Prestfest after Gok Wan's style and music show Fashion Rocks

Organisers had promised this year’s celebration of Preston’s award-winning nightlife would be better than ever.

And as these pictures show, the annual festival left revellers with a huge smile on their faces.

TV presenter and fashionista Gok Wan fronted Fashion Rocks, a free style and live music show, from 11.30am, with catwalks and indie bands.

And later, Melanie C performed a 90s mixtape exclusively for the city she visited for one of the Spice Girls’ first performances at Prestfest.

Other big names that dazzled the crowd included dance legend DJ SASH!, BBC Radio One Extra’s ACE, and Ibiza sensations Lovely Laura and Ben Santiago.

The event was organised by Preston’s Business Improvement District (BID) to celebrate the city’s Purple Flag award, which recognises safe places to enjoy a night out.

BID manager Mark Whittle said an estimated 1,800 attended yesterday, and said: “It was cool to see the city coming together, and even Gok commented on how people were smiling and having a good time.

“The feedback we got was that people loved it and they want it to happen more often. We tried to put something on that was appealed to as many people as possible, with the budget and space we have got.”

The event is set to return next year, with Mark, enjoying a day off today after a mammoth 21-hour shift yesterday, adding: “We have already started to look at it.”