内容摘要：The fringe starts with Pride Blooms on Saturday, 31 May at 19:00 BST on the Cornhill where people are asked to bring flowers to "remember those in our community who are no longer with us, who came before us and who paved the way".

The fringe starts with Pride Blooms on Saturday, 31 May at 19:00 BST on the Cornhill where people are asked to bring flowers to "remember those in our community who are no longer with us, who came before us and who paved the way".

"We did have a funny conversation once when he said 'if you keep talking funerals you're really damaging my confidence here'. So I stopped."James Chippendale, the co-founder of Peters' charity, Love Hope Strength, said the celebration of his life was "very, very Mike Peters".

"A little bit grungy, a little bit long, a little bit funny, a little bit sad, great music, and it just couldn't have been a more perfect ending," he said.Paying tribute to his friend of 18 years, Mr Chippendale, who travelled from Mexico for the funeral, said: "Here's the thing about Mike - whether you were his great mate like me, or his fans, he's always the same."What you saw on stage, what you saw when he was interacting with the fans, was Mike."

He said the musician changed the lives of people who did not even know him through his charity work.Fans travelled from far and wide to pay tribute to the singer.

Lily Elsayed made the trip from New Jersey in the USA to be there.

A superfan for more than 40 years, she even spent Christmas staying with Peters' family as a teenager in Prestatyn, back in the 1980s.The council currently operates two smaller community art venues, Flowerfield Arts Centre in Portstewart and Roe Valley Arts And Cultural Centre in Limavady.

A meeting between council officials and the university to discuss the Riverside Theatre is expected to take place in June.A spokesperson for the university said they have "supported and delivered this civic asset for fifty years" but "the building itself has now come to the end of its life".

They said the university acknowledges the news "will come as a disappointment to many" but that they wanted to express "heartfelt gratitude to the artists, audiences, staff and supporters" who made it "such a special place for so many years".The spokesperson added that it "remains open to working with local partners and stakeholders to explore new ways to support arts and culture in the region, even as we navigate these constrained times".