THE cancellation of the Summer Days Festival due to be held in the grounds of Clitheroe Castle next week left a number of East Lancashire bands with a free date in their diaries.

To fill the void, Ribble Valley-based outfit Good Foxy decided to organise their own event - and so Foxyfest was born.

It will be held at the St Michael and St John Centre in Clitheroe next Saturday starting at 6pm.

"When Summer Days was sadly cancelled the lads just though we should do something and it sort of developed from there," said the band's manager Duncan Sykora.

A number of the bands and artists who were due to perform at Summer Days will now be performing during the evening.

The evening will start with the Clitheroe Pop Choir and the Clitheroe Ukelele Orchestra followed by classical duo Neve and Freya. Then there will be sets by The Remedy, the Slydes and The Roosevelt Room, who will come to Foxyfest straight from performing at Moofest in Darwen earlier in the evening, with Good Foxy headlining the event.

"Since we announced we were going to put something on we have had a lot of bands asking to come along," said Duncan. "But we wanted to create a fairly relaxed event with a bit of breathing space between the bands.

"It's our way of putting a positive slant on what happened with Summer Days."

DJs Jazz and Elliott will be playing vintage vinyl in between sets. There will also be a bar and food available and a charity raffle will be held.

Admission will be £5 on the door, the first band is due on at 6.30pm.

Another boost for those who had bought tickets for Summer Days comes from the Ribble Valley Music Festival.

On Saturday, the St Mary's Centre in Clitheroe will host the award-winning barbershop group Cottontown Chorus.

Ticket holders of the cancelled Summer Days Festival can enter free and defer payment to the event by showing their ticket and pledging to pay at a later date upon receipt of their refund. Tickets are £10 and there is no booking fee. The pledge can be made on arrival with a Summer Days ticket on the night or seats can be reserved and tables for parties of 6 to 12 can be made in advance by calling 01254 384893.