Thousands of music fans enjoy Market Drayton festival

The Rock and Bowl Festival is being held at a picnic spot in Newport Road.

The annual event, which this year had 35 acts lined up, started on Saturday and was drawing to a close today.

The headline acts for this year included Abba Arrival on Saturday and A Special Kind Of Madness headlined the festival yesterday.

Hipster was due to be headlining the event today.

Laurence Payne, one of the organisers of the event and landlord of the Sandbrook Vaults pub in Market Drayton, said: "The festival is in its ninth year. It's getting bigger and bigger every year.

"We had over 3,000 people at the festival in the first two days.

"There's a lovely chilled vibe. People have been singing along to the upbeat music and dancing.

"We've got 35 acts this year. They are from all over. The more years go by, the more we attract bands from further afield."

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, and Nordoff Robbins, a leading independent music therapy charity.

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 a popular platform for local musicians.