Preparations for this year’s Aire Do begin next week with a series of town centre gigs.

Bands and solo artists will compete for slots at the popular open-air music festival in Cliffe Castle Park.

Four acts will perform each night from Monday to Thursday during the ‘Aire’s Got Talent’ contest.

Acts include teenage singer-songwriter Declan Vink, who has previously played at the Aire Do.

Aire’s Got Talent will be held at the Albert Hotel, off the Church Green roundabout, and the heats are being hosted by Keighley singer-songwriter Johnny B.

Winners will be given a place on the Black Rock Rising Stage, which Johnny organises each year at the Aire Do.

He said: “The Black Rock Rising Stage is held at the Cliffe Castle cafe, and is for local talent only.

“We are not accepting metal bands or cover acts because we want to keep things original and truly celebrate our local talent.”

Johnny, who runs Keighley-based Black Rock Records, is raising money so he can travel to Nashville, Tennessee, to play his music to record company executives.

Winners of Aire’s Got Talent will be given a place on the main stage – the bandstand in Cliffe Castle Park – on the Aire Do Saturday, August 2.

Performers in next week’s heats will each play half-hour slots, beginning at 7.30pm.

The line-up, in order, is: Monday – South of Sanity, Rayane Sutcliffe, Declan Vink, Zozo Phoenix; Tuesday – Samantha Rose, Ben ‘Blue’ Waters, Steve Wilson, William Stead; Wednesday – Rufus Hok, Avishek Choudhury, Liquid Brick, Caledonia Road; Thursday – Leon Pashley, Joe Pointon, The Young Nothings, We Are Atlas. Tickets will cost £3 each night on the door.