WOULD you like to perform at the town’s biggest music showcase of the year?

The organisers of Warrington Music Festival are appealing for bands and solo artists to get in touch to play on an outdoor stage at the Old Fish Market on Saturday, May 27.

Twenty-two performers will take to the stage for the all-day event before 90s indie icons Space and Cast close the weekend with a co-headline set in front of 3,000 people on Sunday, May 28.

It has also been revealed that free tickets for Space and Cast’s gig will be available from 9am on Friday, March 3. A maximum of two tickets can be reserved per person on a first come, first served basis.

Warrington Music Festival is now run in partnership with Golden Square. The shopping centre team helped secure the event’s long term future after the 2015 festival was called off at the 11th hour.

Steve Oates, who launched the event, said: “When the festival began 11 years ago we were bruised by a rejected Arts Council funding bid and started holding fundraising concerts. Everyone gave their time for free to raise the money needed to put a stage and PA in Queens Gardens the following year.

“Of the two bands that performed at the first fundraising event, two were from Warrington and one was from further afield. We wanted to provide opportunity for Warrington musicians and we wanted to promote the town as a destination for artists from across the country.

“As we tossed a coin on the stairs of the WA1 venue on Legh Street, to see which of the Warrington bands would headline the night, the new Golden Square development was taking shape through the window below. The Old Market Square, within Golden Square, became the home for the Festival in 2010 and the support the centre has given the event since then has been fantastic.

“No longer do we fund this event with pound coins from biscuit tins Ian Cox and the Golden Square management team share the ambition to make the Warrington Music Festival the biggest and best free music festival in the country.

That’s great news for the event, the musicians who perform, the next generation of musicians who become inspired, the audience and the reputation of the town as a live music destination.”

Ian Cox, centre director at Golden Square said: “Steve’s passion, enthusiasm and knowledge of the music industry is second to none and the support he can offer emerging talent is priceless. As well as Steve’s support, Warrington Music Festival offers emerging talent a great platform as well as being part of a really great weekend for Warrington.”

Steve added: “Music venues have come and gone and come again over the last 10 years but what has remained constant is the enthusiasm and support of the crowds that attend this event each year.”

To apply to perform at the Warrington Music Festival, send information along with links to your band website, Facebook, Soundcloud page to submissions@warringtonmusicfestival.com. The closing date is March 12.

Free tickets for Space and Cast’s gig will be available at gswarrington.com from 9am on Friday, March 3