Bill Bailey and Bully among line-up for first Relight Festival in Wolverhampton's West Park

The festival, which has been organised by Wolverhampton Council, will take place in the city's West Park between August 20 and September 5 inside a giant, big top-style marquee.

Acts confirmed so far include comedian and winner of last year's Strictly Come Dancing Bill Bailey; 80s stars Katrina and the Waves; Sonia; Soul II Soul; former Westlife and Boyzone stars Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy who now perform as Boyzlife; and comedians including the Black Country's own Doreen Tipton, Tom Stade, Shappi Khorsandi and Gary Delaney.

For football fans, there will also be an evening with Wolves legends Steve Bull, Matt Murray and Andy Thompson, while for children, there will be the immersive Jurassic Earth featuring life-like animatronic dinosaurs, and Kids Fest including CBBC stars Katy Ashworth, and Joanna and Evie.

More acts will be added to the line-up and announced over the coming days.

Council leader Ian Brookfield, said: “Becoming an events city is one of our priorities for ‘relighting’ Wolverhampton and putting us on the map after the pandemic. The Relight Festival is really a statement of intent to declare that we’re back in business.

“After the awful time we have all been through, we know that people want to get back out there and have some fun with friends and family. People are crying out for live entertainment which we’ve all missed over the past 16 months.

“Relight offers something for everyone, all ages are catered for with this fantastically varied line-up. We’ve got a real mix of things from music, comedy, sport, cinema, events for kids and teens. The line-up for young people has been shaped by asking them what they want and we will be announcing more really exciting names over the next few days.”

Initially, each event will have a capacity of 500 and will be Covid secure, with social distancing in place between groups of visitors.

If the Government goes ahead as planned and confirms that the requirement for social distancing measures will be removed from July 19, the council will review the position and potentially increase capacity, as the venue is able to accommodate 2,000 people per event.

Councillor Steve Evans, cabinet member with responsibility for events, added: “With the country emerging out of lockdown, Wolverhampton is putting itself back on the map as a venue for fantastic events.

“People can look forward to a summer of first-class entertainment with an offer that will appeal to everyone.

"The Relight Festival complements other great events happening in the city for families such as the Brick Live exhibition at the Art Gallery, Seaside in the City over the August Bank Holiday weekend, and we know that the Grand Theatre will soon be announcing an exciting line-up of shows as well.”

Tickets for the Relight Festival go on general sale at 10am on Friday at relightfestival.co.uk