RIBBLE Valley schoolchildren under the age of 10 are being offered free tickets to the Summer Days Festival.

Organisers of the three-day festival set to take place in July in the grounds of Clitheroe Castle, are offering 400 free tickets to the borough’s five- to 10-year-olds.

The move comes following the success of the Ribble Valley schools Festival T-Shirt and Flag design competition.

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The new boutique festival opens on Wednesday, July 6, when Simply Red will headline with performances from Gabrielle, Roachford, The Christians, ex-New Order bassist Peter Hook and his band The Light and Mike Peters of The Alarm.

Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers and Tom Robinson and his band will play as part of the Friday line-up.

The Saturday night will be headlined by Echo and the Bunnymen fronted by Ian McCulloch as well as featuring Everything Everything, upcoming indie-rockers Circa Waves, Ian Broudie’s Lightning Seeds along with Britpop favourite and former Cast frontman John Power.

In addition to the free child tickets, organisers are offering 400 tickets at £20 per day for youngsters aged 11 to 16. All must be accompanied by an adult over 21.

Organiser John Tyrrell said: “There are some incredible artists across the three days and there really is something for everyone. We’ve still got some surprises up our sleeves with more acts and experiences to announce so watch this space. Summer Days is going to be truly spectacular.”

The competition ran for three weeks with primary school pupils invited to design a flag which will be manufactured and displayed on the festival site.

High school pupils were also invited to design a T-shirt design which will be available alongside official merchandise.

Six-year-old Lydia Blackburn, who attends Edisford Primary School in Clitheroe was crowned the winner of the infant category, Olivia Airey, 10, from Brabin’s Endowed primary School in Chipping took the junior title and 14-year-old Amy Whadcock from Ribblesdale High School taking the senior prize.

Each winner will receive a VIP family ticket for four people for Saturday, July 9 worth nearly £600 and be able to see their winning designs at the festival.

In addition, all entries were entered into the free prize draw to win a family pass of four tickets for Saturday July 9 worth £240, which was won by Hattie Varley, a pupil at Gisburn Primary School.

The festival will feature two stages and a number of local bands will be invited to play over the three days with around 10,000 music lovers each day expected to fill the castle grounds.

There will also be a gourmet food village overseen by Michelin-starred chef Nigel Haworth of Northcote which will include a real ale area. Tickets: summerdaysfestival.com.