A FESTIVAL dedicated to the memory of a teenager who died from an asthma attack is to be held for the 10th and final time.

The Emma Summer Festival was set up by Chipping Norton-based Emma’s Trust after 18-year-old Emma Curtis-Smith passed away in 2005.

Over the past 10 years, the trust has raised more than £100,000 from the festival and donated it to 9,000 young people and organisations with a connection to Emma’s two passions – sport and the performing arts.

Now her cousin Ian Nolan said it is time to bring the trust to an end. “We never expected it to be something that would go on forever,” he said.

“It started out as just a memorial concert. We saw a real desire in the community to mark Emma’s passing and we thought ‘let’s do something with this’.

“Now the time has come for us to finish the work of the trust and to grieve for Emma without using the trust as a cover for that.”

Miss Curtis-Smith studied at Chipping Norton School and worked at Chipping Norton Lido as a lifeguard and also at The Theatre and the Chequers pub in the town.

She suffered the fatal asthma attack after watching her boyfriend graduate from Sandhurst Royal Military Academy.

Mr Nolan said: “She had grown into a really beautiful person. She was a generous and kind person and somebody who loved the area in which she lived.”

One of Miss Curtis-Smith’s main loves in life was sport and the trust has donated money to Chipping Norton School to buy equipment and to support its sports leader programme, which trains youngsters to be coaches.

The trust also wanted to provide opportunities for young people to develop their performing talents, so the Sunday evening concert this year will see 21 youngsters from Chipping Norton given the opportunity to perform alongside the original cast of the musical Mamma Mia.

The festival takes place on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is a family fun day with circus skills, an animal farm, inflatables and bands.

The Sunday schedule features the musical concert with stars from the West End including Jodie Reed, Matthew Croke and Laura Selwood.

They will perform songs from hit musicals including West Side Story, Miss Saigon and Wicked. The second half will feature a full performance of Mamma Mia.

Saturday’s event is free and tickets for the Sunday concert cost £15 (£10 concs). Call 01608 642350.