EAST LANCASHIRE will be playing host to a weekend festival headlined by disco pioneers Nile Rodgers and Chic next year as locally born businessman Richard Quinn begins a drive to bring investment back to the region.

The One Big Thank You event will take place on the weekend of June 19 and 20, 2021 and will be intended as a celebration of how people have come through the coronavirus crisis and as a thank you to key workers.

As such an allocation of tickets will be given free to NHS staff and carers on each day of the festival and profits will be donated to local hospitals.

Richard Quinn, CEO of Q Entertainment, Arts & Sport: “We’re thrilled to have been given this amazing opportunity to show the UK just how much we love and care about the ones that care and look after us.

“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Nile Rodgers, one of the most in-demand and loved performers in the world today.”

The other headliner will be announced over the coming weeks, with the precise location of the event to be revealed at a later date.

There will be two stages, DJs, a funfair and a huge array of family activities and entertainment and local vendors offering best of food and drinks.

East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Miranda Barker said: “It’s very much about the fact that the man behind Q Group was born in Blackburn, grew up in Nelson and Colne and then lived in Burnley so this is very much about putting some investment back into the area.

“He’s been away organising investment in Africa and elsewhere and now this is about bringing that back.”

Q Entertainment is a new company, backed by parent company Q Group, that works in entertainment, sports and arts.

As such it is perfectly placed to organise an event on this scale and, thanks to Mr Quinn’s background, has an acute understanding of how best to meet the expectations of communities across East Lancashire.

The festival will be just the beginning of Q Entertainment Group’s planned programme of investment in East Lancashire which will stretch across heavy manufacturing to hospitality, tourism and leisure.

All of this will come as a relief as the region works hard to cope with the long-term economic impact of the pandemic and ensuing lockdown situation.

Tickets will be on sale at www.skiddle.com.

To keep up with updates about the festival including new acts and ticketing, follow @onebigthankyou on Facebook.