WILL Young, Fun Lovin’ Criminals and Soul II Soul are among a top music line-up being brought to Knutsford this summer by Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge.

Tom’s nationwide Pub in the Park is doubling in size this year from four to eight events, and is returning to The Lambing Shed from Friday, June 7 to Sunday, June 9.

The three-day event will offer the best food the country has to offer, world-class chefs, top pubs and restaurants, great live music, chef demonstrations, top quality shopping and festival fun.

The chart-topping bill for Knutsford also features Cast, Stereo MC’s, The Bluetones, The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Club and Natalie Williams and The Soul Family, with more acts to be announced soon.

Tom is looking forward to returning to The Lambing Shed following the ‘amazing’ reaction to last year’s event, which he attended every day to enjoy the festival and meet festival-goers.

“Knutsford is such a beautiful town – that’s why we chose it for Pub in the Park,” said Tom.

“I have been to the town a number of times, my wife’s family is not too far from there and I have lots of friends who live in and around the area.

“The reaction to last year’s event was amazing, and every event that we’ve gone to everyone’s absolutely loved it and have asked if we would come back next year.

“We said ‘of course we’re coming back’, and the best thing for me about being at the event is the people there.

“They’re having such a lovely time, the chefs are having a great time cooking, doing the demos and chatting, and watching the live bands.

“I love the atmosphere – we work really hard to make sure that behind the scenes all the chefs are having fun, and if they’re having fun that spills out into the park.”

He said the line-up of top performers for this year’s Pub in the Park Knutsford would offer something for everyone, and included some of his favourite artists.

“Fun Lovin’ Criminals did the first year at Marlow, and were just the best,” he said.

“They were absolutely so good, and Will Young did last year in Marlow – he was phenomenal, so brilliant, and gets the crowd going.

“Soul II Soul performed last year, and were mind-blowingly good, so bringing them to Knutsford is great.”

The weather at last year’s Pub in the Park, held in September, was mixed, but Tom said he’d been told that Knutsford had guaranteed that the sun would shine on this summer’s event.

For those debating whether to come along to The Lambing Shed in June, Tom said: “Don’t be daft – come along, it’s amazing.

“There’s food, music, shopping, things for the kids to do, and the sun will be out. What more do you want on a weekend in Knutsford?

“The Lambing Shed was an amazing venue last year, and they looked after us so well.

“The whole place was great, so we’re looking forward very much to being back there again.”

The first Pub in the Park was held at Marlow and was a huge sell-out success.

Tom said: “Marlow is a wonderful family-based community which gets behind anything that goes on.

“We thought ‘let’s get a celebration of food and music together. I’ll ask all my mates to come and do a bit of cooking and see if we can get some bands to play’.

“It was amazing – we sold 18,000 tickets in 24 hours. It sold out so quickly, and we made sure it was super good fun.”

Pub in the Park expanded to four events last year, including Knutsford, as Tom sought to reach more people to showcase great chefs, pubs and music.

He added: “Knutsford has a great food sense, and was somewhere we thought a festival like this would work really well.

“We are finding great places to go and spread the word about Great British food and pubs around the country. Pubs need as much help as they can, so this is a great way to showcase them.”

For more details visit pubintheparkuk.com

Tickets go on sale on February 1, but to avoid missing sign up at the website to the newsletter to get access to the pre-sale on January 31.