A grassroots music venue in Darwen is set to host a festival, where you could watch the UK’s ‘next big music artist’.

Sunbird Records is preparing to host its first Neotribe Festival, which includes a mix of local and national artists that perform a variety of genres.

Jamie Carter, promoter at Sunbird Records, said the name of the festival pays homage to the late former owner,  Jonathan Lindley, who died in 2022.

Jamie said: “Jonathan did a big university dissertation that is all over our website.

"It was based around Neotribe, which is when a lot of different genres and cultures come together under one roof.

“We are trying to bring a load of different styles of music together so we have quite a varied line up at Neotribe Festival.

“It’s important for the venue, it was Jonathon’s ethos and ideology.”

The event is set to take place on July 27, from 2pm until 11pm.

Headliner, Calva Louise, is back from a tour of the USA and performed at Download Festival, 2000 Trees Festival and a headline UK Tour.

TASH, Sugarstone, The Illicits, SUN KING, Pretty Shivers, Stil Life, Urban Theory and other bands have been confirmed in the line-up.

Jamie said: “We are swinging above our weight with the standard of line-up we have.

“Calva Louise is really special but we are excited about all of the line-up.

“SUN KING has been described as a band to watch. They are tipped by a lot of people in the industry to become huge in the next 18 months.”

The event will also have a vintage clothes stall with plans for food stalls, to make it truly feel like a festival. Jamie hopes to run this event twice a year and the next Neotribe Festival is set to take place on December 14.

Jamie said the event could be a chance to see up-and-coming bands before they find national fame.

He said: “Visitors can expect a top quality line-up of diverse musical genres and bands. You can expect to see musicians that you are not likely to see in such a small venue.

“It’s a really exciting line-up and these people won’t be sticking around and playing [small] grassroots music venues [for much longer].

“It’s massively important to support these acts we have at the festival. When they do play at much bigger venues and places you can say [you knew them when they still played small venues]. It could be something to tell the grandkids.”

Jamie said he is excited about the event and is urging people to support grassroots music venues.

He said: “We can’t wait to host this and it’s something we have been trying to organise since we reopened last April. It’s taken a long time to plan but hopefully, it is going to go off with a ‘pop’.

“[We hope it will]  put Darwen back on the map.

“It’s massively to support grassroots venues – if you don’t we won't have the next massive music stars, because they all need to start out somewhere.”

Tickets are available for £15 and can be purchased on Fatsoma and Skiddle.