THE team behind the Looe Saves the Day festival say they are thrilled to announce that Los Pacaminos, featuring Paul Young, will be the headline act on the main stage at the Looe Saves the Day festival next Friday evening.

The annual Looe Music Festival was cancelled due to financial difficulties, but the local community has come together to raise funds and organise Looe Saves the Day – a stripped back event that will be taking place at various venues around the town from this coming Thursday (September 20) to Sunday, September 23.

Los Pacaminos are a UK based Tex-Mex and Americana band featuring Paul Young on guitar and vocals. The festival organisers says: ‘With a promise to take you on a tequila fuelled journey into Mexican border blues – Friday night sounds as if it will be a lot of fun!’

This announcement comes after green energy company Ecotricity emerged as one of the key backers of the new event, offering essential funding to help the community continue with the festival.

Ecotricity will be running the Songs from the Shed Stage across the weekend, which will feature a line-up of amazing acoustic acts including Sally Barker, Ellie Gowers, Winter Mountain and Tobias Ben Jacob in a unique setting.

It will also do run a stand throughout the event, offering free goody bags for anyone who switches their energy supply during the event.

Rachel Kent, head of events at Ecotricity, said: ‘It’s been amazing to see the way the Looe community have come together to keep the music festival going. We’re really excited to be a part of the event and we’re looking forward to seeing lots of festival-goers in the Ecotricity Songs from the Shed Stage in the heart of Looe.’

The announcement about Los Pacaminos also means that the Looe Saves the Day team have now finalised the programme for the events on the main stage. The final line-up, and performance times, are confirmed as :

Thursday, September 20 (warm-up event to test the equipment)

6.15pm-7.15pm – Three Minute Warning

7.45pm-8.45pm – Black Friday

9.30pm-10.30pm – Company B

Friday, September 21

6.30pm-7.30pm – Huckleberry Finns

8pm-8.45pm - The Countrymen

9.30pm-10.30pm – Los Pacaminos featuring Paul Young 

Saturday, September 22

12pm-12.45pm – Falmouth Soul Sensations

1.15pm-2pm – Helm & The All Star Band

2.30pm-3.15pm – The Trees

3.45pm-4.30pm – Flaming Infidels

5pm-5.45pm – King Creature

6.15pm-7.15pm – Mad Dog Mcrea

7.45pm- 8.45pm – The Correspondents

9.30pm-10:30pm – Uncle Frank

Sunday , September 23

12pm-12.45pm – Sonic Kingdom

1.15pm-2pm – The Viewers

2.30pm-3.15pm – The Grenaways

3.30pm-4pm – Kernow King

4.30pm-5.15pm – Russell Sinclair & The Smokin’ Locos

5.45pm-6.30pm – Vince Lee & The Big Combo

6.45pm-7pm – Charlie Harris

7.30pm-8.15 – The Good OId Fashioned Lover Boys

9pm-10.30pm – P.P Arnold 

‘We are delighted to have secured such a fantastic range of acts for the festival and would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to help us to pull the programme together,’ said Edwina Hannaford, local Cornwall Councillor and one of the festival Directors.

‘One of the people who has been involved in the organisation of this event is Billy Martin, who was actually one of the organisers for the original festival seven years ago and had the original idea. We are very grateful to Billy and everyone else for their support.’

The festival organisers added: ‘While there are certainly some great acts performing, don’t forget the festival is not just about what is happening on the main stage. There will be performances taking place in more than 20 venues in the town where people can go and have a drink and something to eat and listen to some fantastic music. There will also be buskers performing in the streets.

‘We are putting the finishing touches to the programme which will provide details of the activities taking place in the town as well as on the main stage. This will be available on our website within the next 24 hours.

‘Looe has an amazing range of places to eat – from fish and chip shops, Chinese and Indian takeaways, bakeries, pasty shops and cafes to Italian, Thai and seafood bistros and restaurants and some truly awesome pubs.  You will definitely not go hungry.

 ‘We are also finalising the arrangements for travelling to and from the festival, and for parking in the town. The town is going to be busy and so we are asking people to use public transport where possible.’

Plymouth City Bus confirmed its plans for providing bus services for the three-day event earlier this week. Details of the services, which will serve all the main caravan parks and camp sites, can be found on the Looe Saves the Day website at www.looesavestheday.co.uk  

A bus three-day ticket will cost £10, with £4 for a one-day ticket. Festival-goers can also travel by train from Liskeard to Looe on the Looe Valley Line. Links to the train timetable are also available on the Looe Saves the Day website, and there are a number of local taxi firms available.

The main car park for the festival will be at the Millpool and people driving to the event are asked to use this car park first. If the Millpool becomes full, overflow car parks are available at:

-Looe Junior Academy

-Looe Community Academy

-West Waylands field (park and ride)

-Dungers field (opp the car boot field )

-Sandhill field

 The festival organisers are still on the look-out for volunteers to act as parking marshals, with lots of one- and two-hour slots available. If you have a few hours to spare and would like to help, telephone Viv Sullivan on 07814444981.

Note that Fore Street will be closed from 4pm to midnight on the Friday Saturday and Sunday but will be open outside these times.