Van Morrison is due to return to Blickling Hall, near Aylsham, to perform an outdoor concert filled with his best-loved hits. The singer - dubbed Van The Man by fans - will play in the lakeside setting on Sunday 16 July 2006 to up to 10,000 fans. Gig-goers can expect to hear classics like Brown-Eyed Girl, Bright Side Of The Road and Moondance, which have helped to fuel the Belfast-born star's iconic status. Blickling Hall's events manager Shirley Donovan said she hopes his summer show will be as striking as his 2003 concert. "I was at the last gig and Van Morrison put on a great show with all the classic songs we know and love," she said. "The music really lends itself perfectly to an open-air concert in the parkland at Blickling Hall. "He proved a big hit when he was here a few years ago and I'm sure the concert will be just as popular in 2006," she added. Mix of stylesVan Morrison's brand of rhythm and blues will fit into a programme of classical music and pop tunes to fill the night air around the National Trust venue this summer. Tickets went on sale at the start of the year for concerts by global stars Bryan Adams, Il Divo and Simply Red - with all three dates now sold out. UB40, whose June gig at Thetford Forest was an instant sellout, have also been booked to appear at Blickling after Robin Gibb cancelled his show. Irish heart-throbs Westlife's concert in the parklands of the north Norfolk stately home was revealed before Christmas, and tickets sold out within a weekend. For the first time, all six concerts will be relayed to audiences on big screens. Show datesGig-goers will be able to lift the lid on their picnic hampers for the first date of the year at UB40's show on Friday 14 July, while Westlife will have a sellout crowd swooning at their clean-cut looks and harmonies on the following night. Simply Red front man Mick Hucknall will cork open their classics for a third time in front of a Blickling audience on Friday 21 July, and it's also a return visit for Canadian strummer Bryan Adams on Thursday 20 July, which is sold out. The announcement that Simon Cowell's operatic quartet Il Divo will tread the Norfolk stage at a sellout concert on Saturday 22 July came in the same week that the classical Casanovas topped the US album charts. A programme of open-air gigs is also taking place in the depths of Thetford Forest, with performances booked with UB40, Jamie Cullum and Embrace. Holkham Hall is also to host its first major summer shows this year, with Jose Carreras and Jools Holland set to visit. - Tickets cost between £37.50 and £40 and are available from Blickling Hall's box office on 0870 010 4900 or call the credit card hotline on 0870 400 0688.
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