A “FESTIVAL of Teesside” aiming to attract one million new visitors has been promised by a mayoral candidate.

Labour’s Jessie Joe Jacobs has revealed her intention to bring a summer-long cultural showcase to the Tees Valley in 2022 if she is elected in May.

Money would come from a £120m pot set aside for a national “Festival of Britain” event planned in two years’ time.

A raft of events in empty spaces as well as larger scale showpieces are in the pipeline in a bid to give a platform to emerging artists and musicians.

Ms Jacobs said she wanted the event to build on the success of last year’s Radio One Big Weekend which saw tens of thousands of people flock to Middlesbrough.

The Northern Echo: Jessie Joe Jacobs and the X Factor's Kerrianne Covelle Jessie Joe Jacobs and the X Factor's Kerrianne Covelle

She added: “We saw through the Big Weekend how successful that was in bringing a sense of pride – and a lot of people have said we need to do something like that.

“There is £120m set aside for the Festival of Britain and the great thing about devolution is it gives us powers and money to put us on the map.

“There are many fantastic musicians and big names on Teesside like Chris Rea and James Arthur but so much local talent in pub back rooms – it’s about giving them a platform.”

Olympian Richard Kilty, X-Factor star Kerrianne Covell, boxer Joe Maphosa and comedian Shonette Bason are understood to have backed the idea.

Details on how much it could cost have not yet been unveiled.

But Ms Jacobs said she was aiming to get the biggest amount possible from the”Festival of Britain” fund.

She added: “I have run festivals before – you can run something on a shoestring or do something phenomenal. I will be going for the big ask.”

The Labour candidate added she wanted to see a fairer distribution of funding away from London when it came to culture, tourism and the arts.

Ms Jacobs added: “There is a lot of money locked in London at the moment – we buy more lottery tickets and we don’t get our fair share of Arts Council funding.

“Getting our fair share of cultural funding means we can put ourselves on that national map.”

Ms Jacobs will take on Conservative incumbent Ben Houchen at the polls in May.

Teesside did boast two large, outdoor music festivals in the Stockton Fringe – which later became the Weekend – and Middlesbrough Music Live.

But public subsidies for the events dried up.

Independent Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston unveiled the idea of an annual music festival as a follow-up to the Big Weekend showcase last year – saying he wanted to bring even more live music to Middlesbrough town centre on a monthly basis.

The announcement was backed by Mr Houchen who said he would look to support a plan financially.

Meanwhile, efforts to put a bid together to make the Tees Valley a “City of Culture” in 2025 have been put on ice for now.

A bid isn’t off the table next year – but delays on what the process will look like have triggered an alternative idea to be drawn up by the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA).