A BURY festival is preparing to bring England’s finest contemporary and traditional folk artists together for a fifth year.

The Homegrown Festival kicks off today with three days of live music across different venues around the town.

An eclectic bandwagon of performers include Steeleye Span, Turin Brakes and the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain who will headline in a series of concerts, taking place at The Castle Armoury Drill Hall, The Elizabethan Suite and The Fusilier Museum in Bury.

Homegrown is organised by The Met, in partnership with The English Folk Expo and is part of an international folk festival circuit that brings an audience of more than 3,000 people to Bury from around the UK.

More than 150 live music industry professionals also travel to the town from around the world, who come to seek out up and coming talent at the only English folk showcase of its kind.

Artistic Director David Agnew said: "Homegrown is inspired by the world's interest in an invigorated English folk scene and is probably the most diverse folk festival around.

"From traditional to contemporary folk music, audiences can explore a vibrant mix of emerging and established artists. Having Turin Brakes alongside Steeleye Span and the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain really shows how varied the folk scene is, and just goes to show that folk isn’t always as traditional as people think."

Steeleye Span will be performing at the Drill Hall on Saturday night.

The group has previously played with the likes of The Who, Led Zeppelin and Fairport Convention, over its many years and the headlining set will include tracks from their newly record album, 'Up Until Now……..Dodgy Bastards'.

Bass player Rick Kemp said: "It’s always good to play in Bury, it’s one of my favourite places.

"The event itself sounds like it will be good fun and there will be lots of people, I haven’t seen for a long time."

Joining the line up are influential singer-violinist Nancy Kerr, multi-instrumentalists Moulettes, duo O’Hooley & Tidow, award-winning singer-songwriter Megan Henwood, uilleann pipes maestro Michael McGoldrick, gypsy folk’n’roll band Holy Moly & The Crackers, Marry Waterson & David A Jaycock and new duo James Delarre & Saul Rose.

Homegrown will also welcoming a trio of folk acts from guest nation, Belgium.

Hailing from the Flanders region will be Surpluz and WÖR, both create modern folk music from traditional folksongs and Trio Dhoore who interpret stories collected from fascinating people through upbeat melodies.

Tickets are on sale now with prices varying for each concert. For more information and tickets visit www.themet.biz/homegrown.