THOUSANDS of music-lovers are set to descend on the heart of Southampton later this year for a new dance music festival.

Chart-toppers Rudimental are set to headline the festival which will also feature a number of well known dance music acts in April.

It comes after organisers pulled the plug on the Soundclash festival which has attracted 16,500 to Somerley House in Ringwood for the past two years.

The new festival is expected to attract more than 7, 500 party goers to a number of venues across Southampton including Oceana and Switch.

Organisers Switch nightclub, on Above Bar Street, hope that if it is successful the event will be held at an outdoor site in the city next year.

Director Ryan Keary said: “We want to produce a new festival in Southampton and will be looking to do a multi venue inner city event on April 30 with Rudimental headlining with Gorgon City and Tom Zanetti with more to come.

“We love dance music but our aim is to expand into other genres so there is something for everyone’.

"We hope the local authorities will help accommodate us in a green field site in the future with us all owning successful businesses within the city for a number of years, employing and entertaining local people regularly.

"We don’t want to bus 15,000 people and take them out of the city’s economy anymore.

"We want our local, loyal customers to be able to attend an event in their home city and spend their money supporting their own town’s local economy.

“We live and breathe Southampton and our revenue stays in the city." 

Somerley House, who didn’t wish to comment, hosted the event twice last year after it moved from the Silverlake Stadium in Eastleigh in May 2015 when organisers wanted to expand.

Meanwhile, the two-day Common People festival, which brought more than £1.1 million into the Southampton economy according to the city council, is set to set to announce the line-up later this month for the event on May 27 and 28 on The Common.

However last week the festival was criticised by teenagers after new ticketing restrictions were revealed mean 16- and 17-year-olds are not allowed in unless they are accompanied by an adult over 30 years old.

On July 8, thousands will turn out on The Common for the retro Let’s Rock festival which has already announced that eighties legends Human League, Tony Hadley and Belinda Carlisle are on the bill.