Emerging acts from across the North East are being given the chance to take to the stage with some of music’s biggest names.
Sunniside Live, Sunderland’s only city centre music festival, returns on Saturday July 16, with a host of top talent, including headliners, The Brand New Heavies.
This year, event organisers, Helen Davies and Sean Maddison, are appealing for up-and-coming acts from across the North East to join the line-up and are hosting a Battle of the Bands Competition to find the best of the best.
Entries will open to solo performers and bands of all genres, featuring up to eight members, on Wednesday (June 1) – though all participants must be at least 14 years of age and able to play their own instruments.
Application forms will be available to download at www.sunnisidelive.co.uk, to collect from Bar Justice, West Sunniside, Sunderland or via email on info@sunnisidelive.co.uk and must be submitted with a video clip of a previous performance by Sunday June 26.
The best submissions will be uploaded to Sunniside Live’s Facebook page, where a public vote will run from June 27 to July 3 in order to select the top three.
These acts will then compete in a live final at Bar Justice, Sunderland on Friday, July 8, performing in front of an appointed judging panel and public audience.
The following week (July 16) the overall winner will open Sunniside Live leading a line-up that includes The Brand New Heavies, special guests Alison Limerick and Shola Ama and North East groups Smoove & Turrell, Picnic, DJ Deja Brew and the Juggernaut Love Band.
Event organiser, Helen Davies, who also runs Bar Justice and Gin & Bear It, Sunderland, said: “This is an opportunity for up-and-coming acts from across the North East to hit the stage in front more than 4000 music lovers and share the bill with some of the industry’s finest artists.
“We’re hoping to see entries from right across the musical spectrum and can’t wait to see what talent this region has in store.”
Sunniside Live 2016 will run from 12pm until 10pm, with a number of food stalls, a pop-up café, licenced bar, retro Pimm’s van and a bottle and spirits stall open throughout the day.
Tickets, priced at £10 each, are available online at www.sunnisidelive.co.uk/ or in person at Gin & Bear It, 200 High Street West, Sunderland or Bar Justice, 47 West Sunniside, Sunderland.
More information about the event, supported by Sunderland BID and BBC Newcastle, can also be found by emailing info@sunnisidelive.co.uk, following @SunnisideLive on Twitter or searching SunnisideLIVE on Facebook.
Entry to Battle of the Bands is free.