THE COUNTDOWN has begun for the return of one of the county’s most anticipated music events.

There are just five days to go before Common People arrives at Southampton Common.

And there is still the chance to grab a last minute ticket for the bank holiday weekend event starting this Saturday.

The festival was first held in the city last year and was a resounding success, bringing together some of the best musical talents to perform at the Southampton Common.

Now the festival is returning for a second year and will kick off the summer’s musical events.

This year’s headliners include Southampton’s very own Craig David as well as Duran Duran, Katy B, Primal Scream and Public Enemy.

The Uncommon Stage will this year be hosted by the Joiners, an iconic Southampton venue for live music, and will see bands including Lonely the Brave and the Wytches performing.

Continuing the theme of promoting Southampton venues, the Bug Bar stage will be hosted by the nightclub Junk on Saturday night.

Organisers released the set times for each act, allowing festival goers the chance to plan ahead and catch as many performances as possible.

But Common People is not just about the music.

There will also be an wide variety of street food on offer across the festival site catering for every taste including pizzas, Indian cuisine and vegetarian choices.

Speaking about last years event, Rob da Bank, who organised the festival, said: “It was a great success from all sides.

"The sun was shining, the common looked great and Southampton didn’t grind to a halt or end up in disarray!

“We achieved what we set out to do.

“There were so many things that could and do go wrong at festivals - the weather for a start, but it was lovely and we sold tickets well in advance; 35,000 people came and the headliners were great as well as the local band stage too.

“The local economy felt the benefits too as about £1 million in extra income came into the city over the weekend.

“We know that 29 per cent of the visitors were from outside the area and many would have stayed in local hotels.”

Festival goers will have to dress for all weathers as according to the forecast there is likely to be a mixed bag with showers along with sunny spells predicted for Saturday, with a cloudy day forecasted for Sunday.

To get your last minute tickets go to southampton.commonpeople.net