Shropshire Star

Lilly takes to the stage in Market Drayton - with video

Lilly Boughey maybe only 16 but the singer/songwriter has already cut her first EP and made a music video.

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Lilly Boughey

Now Lilly is returning to the stage at the Market Drayton Rock and Bowl annual open air music festival.

The event runs from May 27-29 at the town's picnic area.

Lilly, one of the youngest performers, will perform two sets on the Saturday of the festival.

The teenager, who lives in the town, says her musical influences are as diverse as Coldplay and Marvin Gaye, Hall and Oates and the Beatles. She taught herself guitar and started gigging in 2015.

A regular performer at Sandbrook Vaults she said she was really looking forward to taking part in the festival.

She said: "They asked me back after I took part for the first time last year and asked me to do two sets. I am really enjoying my music. I am currently at music college and Newcastle-under-Lyme and in July I am going to Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts."

The headline acts for this year's festival include Abba Arrival and Green Haze – a Green Day tribute act.

Other acts include A Special Kind Of Madness, the Rozzers and Hipster.

A total of £3,685 was raised for Midlands Air Ambulance last year in memory of Merrick Burns, 27, who died after a crash at the Grinshill junction on the A49 on June 8 in 2015.

This year the fundraising money will be donated to Royal Voluntary Service – a volunteer organisation that enrich the lives of older people and their families across Britain.

Anyone interested in volunteering to help at the festival should email kipkeegan@gmail.com.

To buy a ticket, go to www.rockandbowlfestival.com.

The festival was launched in 2009 to fill the void left by the cancellation of Market Drayton’s carnival and money raised goes to local charities. In 2015 a record 4,800 people attended, which was an increase of more than 1,000 from the 3,500 who attended the year before.

The festival started off at the back of the Coach and Horses pub in the town but over the years has grown to become a popular platform for local musicians.