IT'S all about the music at this year's Glaston-Bury festival where more than 100 acts are poised to take part in one of the town centre's biggest events.

This year promises to be the biggest yet with a host of bands taking over venues across Bury, including 101 Bar, Art Picture House, Brambles Bar, Molloy's, Pics Bar, Pizza Pioneer, Blind Tiger, The Elizabethan Suite, The Met, The Monkey House, Two Tubs and Wylde's.

Newcomers to the event include Bigfoot, Lofthouse and Greenday UK who join returning bands Small Weller, former Stone Roses guitarist Aziz Ibrahim and '80s new wave metal legends TysonDog, who will play the Blind Tiger main stage alongside The Steve Ferringo Band.

The first Glaston-Bury was held in August, 2008 at the Blind Tiger in Bolton Road, where 12 bands took part and helped to raise £1,200 for Bury Hospice.

It was such a success that it returned the next year and it has since grown and grown, raising more than £75,000 for the hospice since its inception – and will this year feature more acts perform than ever before.

Organiser Chris Buckley, who is a DJ at Blind Tiger in the town centre, said: "Glaston-Bury has become the Highlight of the town's musical calendar. It is our aim to showcase up and coming talent alongside established acts and with the help of our local authority make Glaston-Bury bigger and better."

After its debut, two venues were added To Glaston-Bury in 2009 - Pics Bar on Market Street and the Club Siberia on The Rock, and £4.250 was raised, and the following year four more venues joined the event, raising £10,000 with Bury actress Nikki Sanderson opening the show.

Between 2011 and 2014 more and more venues took part and the festival raised £12,000, £14,000, £14,000 and £15,000 respectively — and on top of that won two national What's On 4 Me awards.

Chris said: "We have come a long way in the last eight years and have raised a staggering amount of money. We try to beat the previous year's total each time but £15,000 from last year won't be easy.

"The line ups get better each year and bands from all over the country are now applying. We do give preference to local bands and our door is always open to our neighbours in bands from Bolton and I'm really glad we have the Jade Assembly returning especially after their set at Kendal Calling.

"This year sees our hard work pay off. We have been given permission for an outdoor stage with licensed bar, which takes our stages for the event up to eleven with more than 100 acts."

Bolton indie rock group The Jade Assembly, featuring John Foster, Andy Watson, Danny Hayes and Gareth Smedley, will play a mix of songs old and new at the Bury venue on Monday, August 31.

Singer and guitarist John said: "We've played Glaston-Bury a couple of times and it's got bigger each year. It's where all the venues in Bury put on live music in aid of Bury Hospice. It's a real honour to be asked to play there again.

"I love playing festivals. The good thing about them is that we have the chance to tap into a different audience — people with young families for example might not be able to make a traditional gig at a music venue, so this is a chance for us to play in from of them."

Wristbands are available on the day from Bury Met Foyer these wristbands get you access into all Eleven Stages and cost just £6.

For more information visit facebook.com/BuryGlaston or tweet to @buryglaston.