Full details and line-up revealed for Elemore Family Music Festival in Sunderland

Elemore Country Park in Hetton is set to host a day of live music and free family entertainment on Saturday, August 26, between 11am and 5pm.

The country park, which was once a golf course, has recently been transformed into a community green space with a focus on the natural environment and local heritage.

A café and garden centre have already been set up at the site, which is in the Hetton area of the city, with wider plans for more leisure and community uses in future.

City leaders have said the new family music festival aims to celebrate the involvement of local residents in developing the country park.

Live music on the day will include performances from The Lake Poets, local folk rock and colliery brass band DENNIS and Houghton Brass Band.

Other live acts will include Baby Braggin, James Thoroughgood and Bojangles Ukes.

Families will be able to enjoy free activities such as face painting, balloon modelling and a drop-in circus skills workshop, with princesses and superheroes also attending to meet children.

The newly-opened café at the country park will also be open serving food and drinks throughout the festival, and visitors are encouraged to bring picnic blankets and chairs to the event.

Councillor Claire Rowntree, Hetton councillor and deputy leader of Sunderland City Council, chairs the Elemore Project Group.

Cllr Rowntree said: “Local residents have always been at the heart of the transformation of Elemore into an eco-park, and all throughout the project the plan was for Elemore Country Park to be a real community space.

“The Elemore Family Music Festival is a perfect chance for the community to come together in the space while watching some fantastic local music acts and enjoying some free family fun and entertainment.”

The festival is one of several new events organised by Sunderland City Council and has received grant funding from the city’s Coalfield Area Committee.

For more information on the Elemore Family Music Festival and stage programme, visit: www.mysunderland.co.uk/elemorefestival