A Barrow Island based fundraising festival is hoping to draw in the crowds next month.

Fudstock began in 2018 to commemorate the life of Richard Thorne, the Barrow Island resident and dad who died from bowel cancer in 2018 at the age of just 38.

Last year, the festival was forced to take a virtual twist due to the coronavirus pandemic, live streaming music acts to those watching at home but now it is back.

Richard Wilson, one of the event organisers, said: “We’re expecting about 3,000. We are hoping to have an increase on other years and for it to be our biggest event.

“The reason we do this is in memory of our friend Richard Thorne, who was called Fud, and for St Mary’s Hospice as we continuously raise money for them.

“We also do it for the people of Barrow Island.

“It’s a bit of a deprived area and when it comes to live music, some children and their families can’t afford to get away to these type of events, so we are bringing high quality acts to them at an affordable price.

“We try to include everyone which is why we have all different types of music and different stages to cater to everyone.

“We also have a children’s area, bouncy castles and funfair rides.

“There’s five of us who organise the festival and we set up a Community Interest Company (CIC) and as it grows we can reinvest into the festival and into the company and donate to charity.”

The festival has even brought in an international act for this year’s event.

Mr Wilson said: “Our headliner DJ, Todd Terry, is coming in from New York and our headline band are called Elvana – it’s an Elvis fronted Nirvana band, they are absolutely massive now, touring round the country.”

Children under 12 can attend the event for free. Adults can attend for a fee of £25, while those under 18 will pay £10.

Tickets for the August 28 event are available on the website at: https://fudstock.co.uk. Tickets can also be bought at The Devonshire and The Royal.