CROFT Rock is back for another bank holiday spectacular, and the line-up for May's event has been announced.

The Barrow-based charity music festival returns on Sunday May 28, with a dozen live acts confirmed to appear across two stages at Crofters, in Holbeck.

The nine-hour event will feature some brand-new names to the local scene, as well as some returning favourites from the festival's recent history.

First-timers Community Service will be ones to watch on the main Zaccarini Stage - so named in tribute to popular Barrow musician Dean Zaccarini, who died last year. It's set to be a poignant occasion, with this new act featuring his former bandmate Chris Newsham among their line-up.

The four-piece indie rock band only made their debut appearance at the start of February, but with some well-known performers on-board, their place high up the Croft Rock bill is certainly warranted.


The Retros (photo by Jon Granger) Young indie band The Sides recently made a massive impression at the launch of their debut EP, packing out The Nines, and the Croft Rock crowd can look forward to witnessing one of the Furness scene's most promising new bands this May.

Festival organiser Mark Russell has also revived his own band, Slipstream, for the occasion, performing as a five-piece once again.

Guitarist Mark and frontman Dave Calvert have been performing in recent years as a duo, but will expand to include lead guitarist Adam Cooper, bassist Dan Hill, and The Dales drummer Steve Phillips - echoing the band's early 2000s full-band line-up.

The Retros have made a name for themselves in the past year, first appearing at Ulverston's Another Fine Fest and then with hugely well-received shows at The Drawing Room. Fronted by Becki Fishwick, this authentic vintage rock 'n' roll and soul outfit bring a new element to the festival.

Veteran hard rock band Dark Angel play a rare live show, having only had the one outing in 2016, but they went down a storm at the 2015 event and will be hoping to repeat their success once again.

Sugarfoot are another Barrow band that have only made fleeting appearances in recent years, but their country-driven shows always draw a big audience, and they should thrive at this event, which is almost guaranteed to be a sell-out.

Rounding out the main stage line-up are Among Giants - the teenage rock band have stunned audiences with a series of live shows in the past 12 months, despite some of their members being as young as 13.

The Alternative Stage too has plenty of familiar faces, with solo acts Acoustic Bobster, Jamie Bosanko, Jonny Regan and Jo Ripley joined by new band Apollonia - featuring members of Lady Jack and Sancho - as the live acts confirmed to appear so far.

Croft Rock runs all day on Sunday May 28, and tickets go on sale priced £10 for adults and £5 for children aged between 13 and 17 from Crofters on Saturday March 4. All proceeds this time will be donated to the MS Society Furness Branch.