TENBURY Music Festival has taken a major step to establishing a mini ‘Glastonbury’ in the Teme Valley.

A grant of £14,500 has been agreed with the Arts Council.

Organisers say that this will result in major changes and will enable the music festival to move to the next level.

This will include increasing the length of the music festival from one to two days.

The festival was started three years ago and takes place on The Burgage on the Saturday nearest to the Summer Solstice.

Music fans converge upon the town from all over the country providing a major boost to the local economy by spending money in the town and some of them staying in hotels and guest houses in the area.

Camping is also allowed on the Burgage for visitors who want to stay overnight.

Tenbury Music Festival has secured funding from the Arts Council to enable it to develop the popular annual contemporary music festival.

With the assistance of local consultancy, CMP Consult, a bid was submitted to help the festival broaden its approach through its programme for 2018, including supporting young talent, creating new spoken word and poetry elements and an increased number of quality musicians to entice a larger audience from a wider area.

Festival organisers Graham James and Phil Blackmore say that they are delighted that funds have been secured to ensure the future success of Tenbury Music Festival, which has only been established for three years.

“We have had amazing support by both musicians and our audience - our event in June was voted the best ever and we now intend to build upon our success,” said Phil Blackmore.

“With our focus on original talent, with no tribute bands, our bid for funding was viewed favourably by the Arts Council and we must thank CMP Consult for their help in submitting the bid and the Arts Council for supporting this unique family friendly festival,” added festival director Graham James.

Mr James who runs the Little Fish Shop in Tenbury has said that the Arts Council grant will enable the festival to grow.

“This now gives us a great opportunity to plan to develop the festival, over time, to grow to a two-day event supporting the local economy and tourist trade through increased visitors to the town during the festival,” he said.

By extending the festival to cover a weekend it is expected that it will increase the amount of time and money that people spend in Tenbury and the surrounding area.

The music festival joins the annual Tenbury Show that takes place this weekend (Saturday, August 6) as one of two major summer attractions in the town.

It plays an important part in the annual calendar of events that include a series of events in the autumn and early winter.

These start with the Apple Fest and also includes the Mistletoe Festival and sales in November and early December that brings buyers from all over the UK and Europe to the town.

Tenbury has also established a pantomime with professional and amateur performers as well as the Santa parade.