PREVIEW: TV duo Sam and Mark to host star-studded Wentworth Music Festival

Also performing - on Saturday, June 15 - are S Club, Blue's Lee Ryan, Doctor and The Medics, Republica, Soul Sensation, Abba Revival, Sheffield hitmaker Eliot Kennedy with surprise guests and a house band fronted by Big Shaun of The Everly Pregnant Brothers.BUY TICKETS: Adult Tickets are £45, 12-years and under pay £10 and under 4s are free. Buy online at www.wentworthmusicfestival.co.uk or www.sivtickets.com, call 01226 743048 (Mon-Fri 10am-4pm), 01226 744284 (8am-4.30pm), 07517 828139 or 0114 2789 789, or in person at Wentworth Village Shop, The Horseshoe in Harley, Bach Hairdressers in Chapeltown or Sheffield City Hall.

Six hours of comedy are also on offer in The last Laugh Comedy tent with Joe Zalius hosting a show that includes Steve Royle and Justin Moorhouse from Phoenix Nights, Rob Rouse from Upstart Crow, Nina Gilligan and Mandy Knight and star of Radio 4’s Live at 11, Rahul Kohli, along with Scott Bennett and more.

The third annual festival will again be set against the spectacular backdrop of the magnificent Wentworth Woodhouse stately home in Wentworth, on the Rotherham and Barnsley border.

A New Music Tent features some of the region’s hottest rising stars along with festival favourites, with bands like Kiziah and The Kings, Elephant Trees, Mollyanna and Broken Flowers, metal sensations Fear Lies, Cry, the hugely popular Graceful Harmony and Altamont.

Singing Plumber Paul Ballington, who has featured on local radio and TV, will also play, with highlights also including brass band The Tin Soldiers Party Hour.

To commemorate 75 years since the D-Day landings The RAF and The Army are hosting a flypast by an Avro Lancaster at some point during the afternoon.

The festival will be a homecoming for Barnsley born TV presenter Sam Nixon, aged 33, original from nearby Monk Bretton, who became a household name in 2003 when he came third on TV talent show Pop Idol - a forerunner to The X Factor.

He teamed up with runner-up Mark Rhodes, now 37, and the duo - known simply as Sam ad Mark - had a number one hit with The Beatles' song With a Little Help from My Friends before becoming popular CBBC kids TV show hosts.

Forty music and comedy acts will take to its stages for what co-organisers - radio presenters Toby Foster and Steve White - say is the most family friendly event of the summer. It will run from 11am to 9.30pm.

Steve said: "We don’t forget the little ones here at Wentworth and our Kids Village is brought to you this year courtesy of Bluey and Baloo who are bringing along all sorts of things to make do and play with alongside dedicated children’s shows throughout the afternoon. Kids are also looked after by the huge fairground, and stalls offering face painting, candyfloss and flowers for their hair."

Toby, who also runs the Last Laugh Comedy nights at Sheffield City Hall's Memorial Hall and other venues, has curated the comedy for this year's festival.He added: "There’ll be food and drink aplenty, our VIP Village, plenty of free parking, a dedicated taxi drop off point, and Guaranteed Sunshine. Hopefully!"