RICHARD Ashcroft will headline an open air concert in Manchester this summer when the Sounds of the City festival returns.

The former Verve frontman will open the festival at the Castlefield Bowl on Friday, June 30.

He will be performing tracks from his latest top 3 album These People alongside his back catalogue of solo work and Verve material.

Hacienda Classical which sees the Manchester Camerata teaming up with Haçienda DJs Mike Pickering and Graeme Park on Saturday, July 1 has already sold.

But new shows announced this week include A Beautiful Day Out on Sunday, July 2 which will feature joint headliners, The Levellers and the Waterboys.

The event is a sister event to the Levellers Beautiful Days Festival held in Devon.

The Levellers will be performing their classic album Levelling The Land in full plus other hits.

The Waterboys led by singer and songwriter Mike Scott, have had an illustrious career since forming in 1981.

More special guests for A Beautiful Day Out will be announced soon.

Returning to Manchester’s iconic location on Friday, July 7 are James.

With their latest studio album, Girl At The End Of The World going straight in at number two in the UK charts, second only to Adele, James have had a year of both critical acclaim and commercial success.

Known for their unique and diverse style over their 14 studio releases, James have sold over 12 million albums worldwide.

The announcement follows the band’s headline sold out tour earlier this year.

Headlining their biggest show to date on Saturday, July 8 are Blossoms. Their last appearance at the bowl saw them support The Charlatans in 2015.

In the past 12 months Blossoms’ eponymous debut record spent two weeks at number one when it was released in August – the first time a debut album has spent more than one week at number one from launch since 2014.

Following the release of the album the band have now gone on to reach over 10 million streams on Spotify and sold out countless tours. They will be supported by The Coral, Rory Wynne and Touts.

Castlefield Bowl in the heart of Manchester city centre has played host to sold out shows from Catfish And The Bottlemen, Stereophonics, James Bay, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, The Charlatans, Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, Paolo Nutini, Pixies and The Courteeners over the past four years.

Tickets for Summer in the City concerts go on sale at 9.30am tomorrow from gigsandtours.com or 0844 811 0051.