THE stages are up, the preparations are in place and the sun has come out for the first day of Stroud Fringe 2016.

Festival organisers will no doubt have breathed a sigh of relief as Stroud woke up to blue skies and warm weather this morning.

It will be a much drier and brighter day than yesterday with plenty of sunshine right up until the late afternoon.

A little more cloud may develop then, but it should remain dry and warm with widespread sunny spells.

Maximum temperatures will hit 22°C this afternoon – just in time for the first few acts at the Bank Gardens and Ecotricity Canal stages.

Looking ahead to tonight it'll be mostly dry with lengthy clear periods at first.

However it will gradually become cloudier towards the end of the night, with temperatures dropping to a minimum of 10 °C.

On Saturday it will take a turn for the worse however, with increasing cloud and rain sweeping in from the west.

Light rain and showers are forecasted throughout the day from 9am onwards, with the heaviest periods coming between 1 and 3pm.

There should be some clear and dry patches too though, with even a chance of sunshine breaking through the dark skies.

The rain could continue right into the night. It will still be quite warm however, with maximum temperatures of 20°C.

Sunday looks not quite as bad, with a cloudy start followed by some rain in the afternoon, with rare periods of sunshine.

This should clear up for the festival’s grand finale on Sunday evening though.