THE multi award-winning rhythm and blues artist Beverley Knight is expected to bring a soulful vibe to a North-East music festival next month.

The singer, whose had top ten hits include Come As You Are and Shoulda Woulda Coulda, will appear at Bishop Auckland College’s BACstage Music and Arts Festival on Saturday, July 2.

Other artists performing that day are chart-topping pop rock band The Hoosiers and Martin Stephenson and The Daintees, who released several albums between the mid- Eighties and early- Nineties, including Boat to Bolivia.

The three-day outdoor festival takes place at the college in Woodhouse Lane, Bishop Auckland, and starts on Friday, July 1, with the Wildcats of Kilkenny.

The event ends on Sunday, July 3, with the The Proms at the College, featuring the professional 46-piece Mowbray Orchestra with soprano Emily Jennings.

The festival is being supported by Star Radio, the Bishop Auckland Town Centre Forum and Bishop Auckland Town Council.

Kevin Burns, marketing manager at Bishop Auckland College, said: “It is a real scoop for us to secure Beverley Knight. She has won Brit Awards and MOBO Awards and has a great track record.”

He also thanked the town council for sponsoring the event and said: “Without them, we would not have a festival.

“It is such an excellent value event. In all the doom and gloom of the recession, here we have something really exciting with three renowned headliners on the bill.”

Classical music lovers are urged to buy tickets for the Proms event – formerly known as the Proms in the Park, which was held at Auckland Castle. The concert includes a piece based on a Grimm Brothers tale.

A spokeswoman for Bishop Auckland Town Centre Forum said: “Almost everyone has heard of Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev. Now there is a similarly clever and entertaining work based on a Grimm Brothers story.

“Its a charming story, beautifully and wittily illustrated in the music. The performance also involves a song which is taught to the audience.”

The Hurworth Concert Band will perform at 5.30pm before the Proms starts at 7.30pm.

Tickets for the festival cost £2 for Friday, £3 Saturday, and £4 Sunday, or a ticket for all three days is £7.

They are on sale at the college on weekdays and Bishop Auckland Town Hall, which is also open on Saturdays.

For information about the festival, visit bacstage.co.uk