Music festival returns to town

Some of Northampton's hottest talent will be performing

More than 80 acts will play across six outdoor stages with town centre venues also hosting a range of music.

Taking place over three days, the main performances will be on Sunday, June 21.

In keeping with previous years, the main stage will be in the Market Square and be headlined by The 2 Tones.

Ground Floor will kick off proceedings at midday followed by Sea Based Turtles, Kayanites, The Deportees, An Escape Plan, Sean Grant & The Wolfgang and OhBoy.

There will also be music at The King Billy which is hosting the Metal Stage and the Dept of Meat and Social Affairs, which is hosting the University Stage.

There will be a jazz stage in Guildhall Courtyard, a classical stage in Guildhall Road, the BBC Introducing stage in George Row, as well as performances in front of All Saints Church.

On Saturday and Sunday there will be acts playing in Abington Street’s “busking spots”, with The Lamplighter, NN Café, The Victoria Inn, The Garibaldi Hotel and Sacre Bleu also hosting performances.

On Saturday, Have Guitarist Will Travel will see acts from Northampton’s past playing at The Picturedrome while The Pomfret Arms will host Fortyfication.

The presenter of BBC Introducing in Northampton, Lal Muttock, who helped choose the line up for the festival, said: “There’s an amazing range of bands and performers playing at this year’s Northampton Music Festival.

“It really showcases the diverse range of talent we have across the town. This year we wanted to create a party atmosphere,so we chose some of our county’s greatest electronic, dance and hip hop artists to really reflect what BBC Introducing is about.”

Steve Chown, director of Northampton Music 365, said: “The idea is to fill the town with music all weekend and by expanding the genres, we hope to bring new groups of people to the festival.”

Northampton Music Festival runs from June 19 to June 21. The festival is presented in partnership with the Northampton Town Centre BID and Northampton Borough Council. For details of all the acts playing and individual stage times, visit the website www.northamptonmusicfestival.co.uk.