GLOBAL megastars and local schools will be coming together in one of the most ambitious music and arts festivals to hit the Furness region this weekend.
The inaugural Coast Roads festival is set to welcome thousands of revellers to Aldingham Fields on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 July to take part in what the organising group, The Lock In, has described as a "community festival".
As well as legendary bands such as The Coral on the main stage, the festival has engaged with Furness-based charities, community groups, and schools to showcase a variety of talents.
READ MORE: Musical line-ups and details confirmed for highly-anticipated music festival
Malcolm Lingard, from The Lock In, said: "We originally reached out to schools because as a group we were acutely aware that issues such as Covid and funding cuts have hit schools hard, particularly in art and cultural departments, as schools have funnelled their decreasing pots of money into core subjects.
"We have been working closely with various departments at Dane Ghyll, Chetwynde, George Hastwell and Ulverston Victoria High School (UVHS), to discuss these issues and find ways in which we can collaborate.
"We are providing a stage for the children to perform on, making and performing music with their fellow students.
"We have been really lucky to hear snippets of their progress and we absolutely cannot wait to hear more.
"We have asked these schools to provide art to be displayed at the festival, and the output to this too, has been fantastic.
"School eco clubs have also been involved in an advisory role, and will monitor where we can improve to achieve our carbon-negative goals.
Malcolm said the Coast Roads is a long-term project, and one in which he hopes local schools can continue to play a big part:
"We want to broaden the scope of the school involvement year on year, developing environmentally led or art-driven projects, working closely with a wealth of innovative and internationally renowned businesses we have in the area, encouraging work experience in a fun environment, and making introductions with various possible career paths - crucially those within the Furness area," he said.
"Additionally we are very lucky to have some of the UVHS Sixth Form students on board as part of the site team, which will be a great asset to their UCAS and other applications into a workplace or further education."
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