A SENSATION of soul stars are sweeping into town this weekend for a new musical event.

Organisers of the Bolton Weekender are hoping to make the three day festival an annual showstopper.

And in its first year nearly a thousand people are expected to descend on the Macron Stadium to watch soul, RnB, reggae, groove and disco names as they take to the stage.

A host of talented performers from around the UK and America are winging their way to town for the bumper weekend which has been organised by The Soul Cartel in association with Sounds Right Son following a taster event in May.

They include BRIT award-winner, Lemar, who has been announced as the headline act alongside legendary vocalist Mica Paris and Technics/DMC World DJ Mixing Champion Chad Jackson.

David Cyrus from The Soul Cartel is aiming to bring the 'biggest and best Soul Event to the North of England'.

He said: "I've been involved with the Southport Weekender and would like to do something similar in Bolton. Put Bolton on the map.

"I used to come here years ago and lived all over the world, coming back to Manchester I found there wasn't much left in Bolton. I didn't want to do this event in Manchester, I wanted it in Bolton.

"The artist have been promoting it and telling people where they will be going. There are a lot of people coming here from London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester. The hotels around the Macron are already selling out, there are going to be a lot of people descending on Bolton!"

The line-up includes a list of well-known soul artists as well as big-name festival and radio DJs.

Lemar, the winner of two BRIT awards and an impressive three MOBO Awards, shot to fame after finishing third in the first series of Fame Academy.

The 37-year-old will feature on the Saturday evening at the Bolton Whites Hotel alongside English soul singer and presenter Mica Paris, Eshe Escoffery, and US Stars Horace Brown, Gwendolyn Collins, Nialand, and Kenya.

Kenny Thomas and Natasha Watts will kick-off the huge weekend of music on Friday with Nialand bringing the event to a close on the Sunday.

Mr Cyrus added: "Everyone can relate to a lot of the artists.

"It's music from the 80s, 90s, 2000s. We want to give people three great days of entertainment.

"We don't expect this to be an overnight success but to build slowly and grow from there. I'm even looking at bringing over a massive group from the States for next May."

Tickets for the event are on sale with a weekend pass costing £59 and a VIP weekend pass priced at £89.

Daily passes are also available, a Friday pass is £25, with Saturday costing £45 and a Sunday ticket for £15. To find out what is taking place each day visit www.boltonweekender.co.uk.