Who will be on the bill at next year's Leyland music festival - and what effect will it have for residents around Worden Park?

Worden Park will be staging the inaugural Leyland music festival

Discussions are ongoing with artists described as “top names” to feature on the bill at the event, which will take place on 19th June next year.

The local democracy reporting service understands that the line-up will be revealed at the Christmas lights switch-on in the town on 23rd November.

A meeting of South Ribble Borough Council’s cabinet heard that up to 5,000 people will be permitted entry to the gig, with tickets costing £28. The price includes entry to the Leyland Festival which takes place over the same weekend.

Deputy council leader Mick Titherington said he hoped that the event could take off in the same way as the Lytham Proms.

“I would like to see it grow into one of the ‘must-do’ music festivals on the circuit,” he said.

Buckshaw and Worden ward councillors said that they did not object to the staging of the event, but sought reassurances that it would be well-run and safe.

Cllr Alan Ogilivie called for consultation with residents, while Cllr Caroline Moon said that there was “a nervousness” amongst people living in the vicinity.

“There is a difference in people’s minds between the daytime Leyland Festival and the idea of 5,000 people coming out of Worden Park after 10pm at night,” she warned.

Council leader Paul Foster said that the event would be fully licenced, risk-assessed and run by a professional events management team.

Cllr Titherington added: “We will engage with people who have expertise to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum – but it’s a music festival and we want to get visitors there.”

Cabinet also set aside £75,000 to cover the cost of the inaugural gig, which was provisionally titled the “Leyland Festival Big Weekender” when it was first announced in September.

The meeting heard that any profit could be reinvested into making the following year’s event even better, although cabinet member for finance, Matthew Tomlinson, said that he would not want to “ringfence” the money at this stage.

The music element of the weekend will be run in conjunction with the Leyland Town Team and some of the equipment needed shared with the festival event over the weekend.