Thousands of people are expected to attend the popular two-day event Basingstoke Live on Saturday 8 July and Sunday 9 July. They can look forward to a superb line-up held across five stages, showcasing outstanding local talent as well as some national and international acts.  

For the first time the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council funded music festival will be ticketed to assist in the safe running of the event.

The tickets are completely free and are now available online at www.basingstokelive.co.uk. Children under the age of five will not need a ticket but everyone else will. Entry to the event will be by showing a printed version of the e-ticket or displaying it on their smart phone for scanning.  

Those with a free ticket will be able to enjoy a fantastic line-up with performances from acts covering a wide spectrum of musical tastes. On the Saturday crowds can enjoy Basingstoke Live’s first female main stage headliner Paigey Cakey. The Hackney MC has supported Eve and Lil Kim, Stormzy and Krept & Konan.  

Sunday will see quintessential festival band the Dub Pistols perform. A 21st century equivalent of 2-Tone acts The Specials or The Beat, the Dub Pistols have worked with vocal legends like Busta Rhymes, Terry Hall and Rodney P over the past 20 years.  

A new addition will be a Get Active area, where there will be an opportunity to try different exercise classes. There will also be a Community Zone featuring stalls from local organisations.  

For those wanting a bite to eat there will be plenty of opportunities to buy food from stands offering everything from sweet treats to delicious dishes, alternatively people can bring in their own food. Wristbands will be issued to those who want to buy alcohol from any of the bars at Basingstoke Live and a Challenge 25 policy will be enforced. No alcohol can be brought into the event.  

Cabinet Member for Communities and Community Safety Cllr Simon Bound said: “Basingstoke Live has been staged in the borough for over a decade and we are delighted it will again feature as part of the Basingstoke Festival programme.  

“We are always looking at how we can do things better and provide an event that everyone can enjoy, therefore this year we’ll be adding even more family friendly attractions to the free festival. We are also asking people to sign up for tickets in advance to help us in our mission to run a safe and enjoyable event for all.  

“I would like to thank the Basingstoke Live Forum for their continued support in organising this event and we look forward to announcing more exciting news including full line-up soon.”  

Basingstoke Live is funded by the borough council and programmed by the Basingstoke Live Forum. It will be the finale event in the Basingstoke Festival programme which will take place between Friday 16 June and Sunday 9 July. This year’s theme is ‘Born in the Borough’, celebrating Steventon-born Jane Austen.  

For more information as it’s released including news on the line-ups, ticketing and new additions to this year’s Basingstoke Live visit www.basingstokelive.co.uk, follow @basingstokelive on Twitter or like basingstokelive on Facebook.