Big names set for King's Lynn as Festival Too takes shape

A former member of Girls Aloud and one of Britain’s best-known DJs are among the big names who are heading to Lynn this summer.

Festival Too organisers have today announced that Nadine Coyle and Judge Jules will head the line-up on the middle Saturday of this year’s music spectacular, July 6.

And an award-winning soul singer will also be on stage as thousands of music fans enjoy one of the real highlights of the town’s calendar.

The move to bring Judge Jules, a former BBC Radio 1 presenter who was one of the key figures behind the growth of dance music in the 1990s, to Lynn is a new direction for the festival.

With a full 10-piece band, he will reinterpret some of the tracks that have defined his long career, as the genre continues to seek ways of broadening its appeal.

And chairman Mark Stanford said the decision aimed to reflect public demand.

He said: “We’ve often been asked for an Ibiza-inspired Saturday night so we thought go for it. It’s going to be a really good night.”

Even before Judge Jules takes to the stage, the crowd in the Tuesday Market Place is likely to be tapping their feet to the songs of Nadine Coyle.

The Irish star shot to fame as one fifth of Girls Aloud, the group which was formed in the 2002 ITV talent show Popstars: The Rivals and reached the Christmas number one that year with Sounds of the Underground.

More recently, she has been performing as a solo artist and her new single, Fool For Love, is released today.

The Saturday line-up, which will be hosted by KL.FM presenter Adam Newstead, also features rising pop-funk trio Superbird, local singer Tilly Pemberton, who has auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent, pupils from Springwood High School and the runners-up from this year’s Battle of the Bands competition.

More than £100,000 has to be raised each year to stage the festival and revellers are being encouraged to give “£2 for Too” during bucket collections at this year’s events.

The preceding soul-themed evening, Friday, July 5, will be headlined by Shola Ama, a Brit and Mobo award winner best known for the top five hit You Might Need Somebody.

Discovered at just 15 years old, Shola signed her first recording deal on her 16th birthday in 1995.

Two years later, You’re the One I Love and You Might Need Somebody both reached the top five in the UK singles charts.

The latter track stayed in the top 40 for almost two months.

The line-up also features Romina Johnson, an R&B singer who topped the charts alongside the Artful Dodger in 2000 with Movin’ Too Fast.

Since 2013, she has performed with the 70s and 80s disco outfit Odyssey.

The evening will be opened by students from the College of West Anglia, before nine-piece soul and blues review band Highway Child return to Lynn.

And the night will conclude with a Back in the Day after party at the Corn Exchange with DJ Mark Purdy, who will also act as compere for the evening, playing an array of soul, funk, disco, motown and northern soul classics.

Tickets for the after party are available for £5 in advance or £7.50 on the door.

The line-up for the final weekend’s events on July 12 and 13 is due to be unveiled next Friday.