THE wait is finally over for music lovers and bands as the Gazette announces the stage line-ups for this year’s Colchester Free Music Festival.

As media partners to the annual event, now one of the biggest in the town, we have been given exclusive access to which acts will be appearing this year.

And Colchester festival-goers won’t be disappointed.

The organisers may have been limited to just two stages this year, due to the renovations taking place at Colchester Castle, but they have not been limited to quality bands and solo artists.

Andy Winwill, one of the people behind the event, says: “We were delighted with the applications we had this year.

“We had more than a hundred in all so it was an enjoyable experience, although also terribly hard, to pick the line-ups we have got.

Headlining the event, which will take place in Colchester’s Castle Park on August 24 from 11am to 7pm, will be the mighty Dingus Khan.

Last year the Manningtree-based group famously split their Reading and Leeds performances with a trip back to Colchester to play at the Free Festival.

This year their schedule is as equally busy.

Last week they played the Truck Festival in Oxfordshire alongside the likes of Ash and the Joy Formidable, while next weekend they are performing at Belladrum in Inverness on the Friday and then at Fieldview in Somerset on the Saturday.

They round off the weekend on the Sunday at the Y Not Festival in Derbyshire, playing with the likes of the Darkness and the Enemy.

Headlining the Hollytrees stage will be Colchester’s new kids on the music block, Ordinary Noise, who the weekend after will also be playing the Brownstock Festival, near Maldon.

Fronted by Wivenhoe’s Lou Terry, the group have already made a big name for themselves locally, playing a number of successful gigs at the Colchester Arts Centre, and nationally managed to get airplay for their song Backstabber on John Cooper Clarke’s 6Music show.

Of the rest of the line-up, Andy says this year’s stages will both start with a series of acoustic acts that will enable a quick changeover before leading into the bands towards the end of the day.

“We’ve done a few things differently this year,” he adds. “We’ve opened up the application to not just bands who are from Colchester but those who have contributed to the local music scene over the years.

“We’ve also tried to make it more diverse, mixing up the musical genres and giving people an overview of the local music scene today.

“I can’t wait for the day now. It’s going to be cracking with plenty going on alongside the music.”

That includes a vintage area around the bandstand and the return of the very popular spoken word tent, which will get a bigger space this year, and be made up of stand-ups, poets and storytellers.

More on that in the Gazette in the weeks to come.