ORGANISERS of a music festival say this year looks to be a record-breaking one as fans clamour to get the chance to see headliners, The Lightning Seeds.

Richmond Live, taking place on Friday, August 2 and Saturday, August 3 on the Batts, Richmond, will see the cult 1990s band perform on the main stage on the Saturday evening.

Mike Jinks, event organiser, said they had never seen advance tickets sell so quickly, with festival-goers generally preferring to arrive on the day.

He said: "The Lightning Seeds have attracted an enormous amount of interest, far more than we are used to with advance ticket sales.

"There is a 5,000 capacity crowd at The Batts so it may be that this year we have to close the gate, which we haven't had to do before.

"Our Friday night headliners are also very exciting – local band Oh My God! It's the Church. It is more of a theatre performance than a band, they are fantastic and have a big following in Richmond as one of the founders, Ben Scott, is a local man.

"As well as those two big bands, we have lots of local talent, small bands from around the UK, and some that you might not have heard of – but it's a great line-up."

Mr Jinks said this year Richmond Live is running its own beer tent, as costs of hiring out to a company were rising.

He said: "We want as much money to go to next year's festival as possible. This is the first year we are doing it ourselves. The prices will be slightly higher than you might expect in the pub but we hope people will understand it is to try and keep the cost of tickets down."

Advice for motorists is to park at Nun's Close car park, or in the town centre in the evening – but the organisers encourage people to use public transport.

He said: "Buses are still running after the evening finishes, and there are lots of local taxi firms.

"We do ask that no alcohol is brought into the festival, and any water should be in a sealed bottle. We offer free water re-fills on site, so people can stay hydrated in the hot weather.

"It is likely to be hot so we also advise people wear sunscreen.

He added: "We are all volunteers and all money raised goes back into the next years' event. We do our best to keep prices down."

The show runs on Friday from 5pm - 11pm and on the Saturday from 11am - 11pm

Individual band times will be published on the website, but times are subject to change.

The Lightning Seeds should be onstage at approximately 9.30pm.

To buy tickets and for more information visit https://www.richmondlive.org.