A Medway music festival has been forced to change its line up because of coronavirus travel restrictions.

Castle Concerts have today announced The Jacksons are unable to perform due to the current complexities involved with flying from the US to the UK.

They were due to headline on Saturday, July 10.

The famous family band are being replaced with British legends Soul II Soul, with the price of a day ticket for the Saturday being reduced from £47.50 to £37.50.

A spokesperson from AGMP, the company behind the annual three-day summer festival, said: "Sadly due to Covid travel restrictions, The Jacksons will not be able to perform, but existing ticket-holders will be able to retain their ticket for the new line-up and be refunded the price-difference of £10, or of course apply for a full refund if they wish to."

The new headliners will be joined by The Brand New Heavies and Janet Kay & Carroll Thompson.

They also confirmed more acts would be announced in the coming weeks.

London-based AGMP took over the running of the event from Medway Council, which came under fire in recent years for its handling of the event.

The promoters told KentOnline the Friday line up, featuring UB40, is nearly sold out.

The full line up for the Thursday, headlined by The Libertines, will also be announced soon.

Earlier this year there was confusion over whether or not the festival would still be going ahead, following a ticketing glitch online that claimed the dates had been cancelled.

Speaking in January, the promoter said: "Until we hear otherwise from Boris and co, we are planning for these events to go ahead and looking forward to them, and hoping we are able to enjoy these concerts and all the other concerts that hopefully will be able to happen."

Last year’s Rochester Castle Concerts were rescheduled after it was clear live music events in 2020 could not go ahead under social distancing guidelines.

The Medway festival follows other Kent gigs hoping the government's lockdown will continue to run on schedule, with outdoor events provisionally allowed to take place from June 21.

New headliner Soul II Soul have sold more than 10 million records worldwide, with two Grammy's to their name.

They had a plaque unveiled on Camden's Music Walk of Fame in March 2020.

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