A POPULAR festival has been given a boost with funding for two new stages.

The £5,000 grant from Go!Southampton – the city’s Business Improvement District (BID) organisation– will go towards funding two extra stages and marketing for the free Music in the City festival, now in its ninth year.

GO!Southampton’s vice chair Spencer Bowman said: “The medieval Bargate and Westquay Above Bar stages will both be sponsored by Go! Southampton and will be additional to previous years, as well as additional marketing support to help promote movement around and discovery of the whole city centre over the course of the weekend – from the Old Town all the way up to The Cultural Quarter.”

Festival founder and former mayor Linda Norris added: “It’s fantastic news and great to have the extra support.

“This year we will have 21 venues and 170 performances. But we’re still running with less money than the £25,000 we had in 2009, 2010 and 2011 – even though the festival is much bigger now.

Linda said that the venues taking part in last year’s festival had “clicked” 20,000 through their doors .

This year’s Music in the City on October 7 and 8 will see bands perform at venues across the city including the art gallery, aboard the SS Shieldhall, and beneath streets in the Lancaster Vault.