Festival returns with 'huge' headliner

Thousands of people are set to descend on Wychwood Festival to watch acts including Sister Sledge, Texas and Ocean Colour Scene.

The Gloucestershire festival is returning for its 18th year at the Cheltenham Racecourse from Friday to Sunday.

The family-friendly event will host an eclectic line-up of music, comedy, literature and hundreds of workshops.

Iain Game, the festival's director, said: “Wychwood continues to go from strength to strength and we’re over the moon Texas will be with us on the Saturday night, this is huge for us."

Sister Sledge, the sibling vocal group behind the anthem We are Family, will headline the event on Friday.

Hailing from Philadelphia in the US, sisters Debbie, Joni, Kathy and Kim, are responsible for dance anthems such as Lost in Music, He's the Greatest Dancer and Thinking of You.

Led by frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri, Saturday headliners Texas have produced ten studio albums selling more than 40 million records worldwide.

Britpop band Ocean Colour Scene will headline on the Sunday, perhaps best-known for hit song The Day We Caught the Train.

Lightning Seeds will take the Sunday sunset slot after 35 years of performing and more than eight million records sales.

Second stage The Garden will host new talent and old favourites, such as Yorkshire's post-punk six-piece Deadlettrer, Dutch indie band Pip Blom and Welsh psych-rock band CVC.

Wychwood will also present more than 100 activities and workshops for families of all ages.

Situated at junctions 10, 11 and 11a of the M5, Cheltenham lies within a motorway network linking London, Bristol and Birmingham.

If travelling from the north of England on the M5 it is possible to leave from junction 9 and take the A435 south. The racecourse can also be reached from the east and west by the A40.

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