The Maidstone Fringe Festival runs over six days this year for the first time.

It launched on Wednesday, April 27, and continues over the weekend, finishing on Bank Holiday Monday. It features more than 100 bands at 14 venues.

Genres include rock, indie and pop-punk through to acoustic and blues acts, ska and reggae, contemporary folk, funk, soul, dance and hip-hop.

Established favourites returning include the likes of Jah Wobble, CoCo and the Butterfields, David Migden & the Twisted Roots, Medway’s Funke & the 2 Tone Baby, King Size Slim, the Standard Lamps and the Chris Corcoran Trio.

Indie and alternative rock acts appearing include Aux, The Narratones, Inevitable Daydream and Skydrive.

Folk and acoustic music, meanwhile, is represented by The Dredgermen, Tobys Starks & Friends and Vaughan Batchelor.

The Source Bar in Rose Yard is also hosting a big ska and reggae event featuring Winston Francis, Dennis Bovell, and Carl St Clair.

Full details of the festival are available at maidstonefringe.com

Caravan roll up at the fringe

One of the biggest names at the six-day event are prog rockers Caravan. The band were a big part of the 1960s music scene in Canterbury. They were formed in 1968 by singer and guitarist Pye Hastings, Dave Sinclair (keyboards), Richard Sinclair (bass and vocals) and Richard Coughlan (drums).

They released their first album, Caravan, the same year and by 1971 they had a following that saw them play to crowds of 250,000. Over the years they have had a number of line-up changes, the saddest being Richard Coughlan dying after a long illness in 2013.

In 1990 the original line-up was put back together for a TV programme and they also played the Canterbury Festival that year.

The band released a box set in 2011 to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of their now legendary album, In The Land Of Grey And Pink. The current line-up comprises Pye, Geoffrey Richardson, Jan Schelhaas, Jim Leverton and Mark Walker.

They will play the Music Room in Pizza Express, Earl Street, on Saturday, April 30. Doors open at 7pm, music at 8.30pm.

To book for the gig, visit pizzaexpresslive.com/maidstone

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