THE Brit and Ivor Novello Award winning singer songwriter KT Tunstall is to kick off a star-studded Wickham Festival next week.

The Scottish star, who has also been nominated for the Grammy Awards and Mercury Prize, will headline the opening night of the family friendly festival, which is heading for a 2017 sell out.

Since rising to fame with her multi-platinum debut album, 2004’s Eye to the Telescope, KT Tunstall has released four more studio albums. Each LP is followed by a three-year hiatus, but that doesn’t stop her base of loyal fans from flocking to her shows and buying enough copies of her studio efforts to keep her in the Top 10.

She is to kick off the four-day event, which will also see appearances from Seth Lakeman and The Levellers alongside Eliza Carthy, 10CC, Show of Hands and The Selecter, on Thursday.

Expect new material from KT's recently released fifth full-length studio album Kin alongside classics from the back catalogue such as Suddenly I See.

Festival favourites Oyster Band, Andy Fairweather Low, Peatbog Faeries and the Spooky Men’s Chorale are also putting in special appearances at the annual event, which includes a host of free activities for young guests from bouncy castles to story-telling.

The music line-up also includes Ferocious Dog, the Men They Couldn’t Hang, John Otway, Kathryn Tickell, Tankus the Henge and Fisherman’s Friends.

Festival-goers will also be having a laugh with the addition of a late night comedy stage.

Organisers have announced a line-up for the stage topped by Tom Walker, better known as Internet sensation Jonathan Pie, the frustrated news reporter known for venting in unguarded “off-camera” rants.

Walker will be appearing for a Q&A session and to talk through why he does what he does, the inspiration behind the character and all things politics.

Walker will be joined by a host of other acts including James Veitch, Zoe Lyons, David Morgan and Tom Deacon.

Wickham Festival runs from August 3 to 6. See wickhamfestival.co.uk for further details.