THOUSANDS of visitors are expected to flock to a North-East music festival on Sunday.

Middlesbrough Music Live, which is organised and funded by the council's cultural services team, is a free one-day event in the town centre.

This year's line-up sees Northern Irish rockers Ash headlining the TFM main stage. Other acts who will be joining them on a variety of stages include Black Kids, One Night Only, Sons and Daughters, Future of the Left and Rolo Tomassi.

Graham Ramsay, of Ten Feet Tall, which co-ordinates the festival on behalf of Middlesbrough Council, said: "We're over the moon with the line-up this year. I know we probably say this every time, but literally, hand on heart, this is the best line-up we have ever had.

"Given our budget, we're chuffed to bits to have pulled together a bill of this calibre."

A couple of acts are yet to be confirmed, but will be revealed on the official website www.middlesbroughmusiclive.co.uk before the event starts.

This is the ninth Middlesbrough Music Live event and over the years organisers have established the festival as a place for people to see some of the biggest and best bands around, including Razorlight, The Ordinary Boys, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, Estelle, The Fratellis and Paulo Nutini.

David Budd, of Middlesbrough Council, said: "It's one of the finest town centre performance locations in Europe. The success of BBCs Proms In The Park last September emphasised what a wonderful site it is."

In addition to the regular stages, this year the thousands of visitors will also be able to enjoy an open mic stage, an acoustic stage, a fairground and also an opportunity for visitors to take part in the Xbox Rock Ban Dome.

Central Square will be the focal point for the event on Sunday.

There are no tickets available in advance. Gates open at 11.30am and the first acts take to the stage at noon.