PEOPLE will be getting a serious case of the blues in Upton-upon-Severn this weekend when the town's popular music festival returns.

The fifth Upton Blues Festival will see more than 50 bands playing at 11 venues around the town.

Organisers are celebrating after receiving a National Lottery grant of almost £5,000 to stage the free event, which covers musical styles including Delta blues, gospel, boogie woogie, soul, R&B, swing, contemporary and rock and roll.

Festival regulars King Pleasure And The Biscuit Boys will return to put in a crowd-pleasing performance of 1940s Kansas City-style jazz and blues as the closing act.

Other acts include Mike Sanchez, the lead singer with Bill Wyman and The Rhythm Kings, and his band The Portions, playing boogie woogie-style rhythm and blues, and jive, plus swing and boogie from the Cadillac Kings and Ian Siegal with his Delta-style blues.

Sophie Garner and the New Breed and Blue Harlem are also on the line-up alongside Worcestershire-based acts including The Barflys and Fabulous Boogie Boys.

There will also be a gospel service under the bridge on Sunday morning in conjunction with Upton Churches Together with the IDMC Gospel Choir from Croydon. Workshops will include Professor Mark Franks from the University of Mississippi talking about the history of the blues and the role played by British artists in popularising the musical style.

Pupils at Upton Primary School have also produced a giant mural as the backdrop to the main stage area as part of their annual Arts Week in conjunction with professional artist Adrienne Craddock.

Cliff Dawe, the festival's artists' co-ordinator, said: "I'm extremely confident the entertainment that's being put on is a lot better and more professional than previous years.

"There are more bands coming forward because the profile of the festival is much higher due to the strength of the artists on the main stage."

Other funding for the festival, which runs from Friday to Sunday, has come from local councils, businesses and pubs.

Programmes, priced £2.50, are available from Ye Olde Anchor Inn in the town.

More information is available by logging on to the festival website: www.uptonblues

festival.org.uk