THE gates to Castle Drogo will be flung open for a free community open evening on Friday, May 16. The Castle Drogo Youth Panel has been planning the event for the local community to come up and see the castle outside of hours. The panel's aim is for this to be a chilled-out and relaxed evening where visitors can stroll in the garden, relax on the lawns, and watch the sun go down. There will be plenty of games to play and local musicians will be performing throughout the evening. There will be a pudding club competition where everyone is welcome to enter a pudding of their choice, which will then be judged before all entries are sold off to raise money for the castle's renovation project. The winning entry will get a free family cream tea in Castle Drogo's café. The current building project, partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Interreg, a European grant, means that some rooms have been plunged into darkness and, therefore, provide a great backdrop for an out-of-hours event. The staff and volunteers hope that lots of local families and their friends will come along for the evening and support the youth panel with this event. The community event runs from 6pm to 9pm. For more information on Drogo visit http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/castle-drogo">www.nationaltrust.org.uk/castle-drogo