ORGANISERS of a festival have partnered with Keighley's Exchange Music Venue and Arts Centre in a search for unsigned artists to be part of next year’s event.

Up-and-coming acts are being given a chance to perform at the Gateways Festival – which takes place at Aireville Park in Skipton over the weekend of July 23/24 – through a Battle of the Bands competition.

Each competing act will perform at one of four heats hosted by the Exchange Music Venue and Arts Centre, in Russell Street, in front of judges.

One band from each heat will go through to the final. And another four from across the heats will be selected to join them to battle it out on April 1.

Up for grabs will be two places on the festival main stage and two on the Big Top stage, which is new for 2022.

Applications are invited from acts of any musical genre. The closing date is January 31.

Michael Watmough, owner of the Exchange, said: “We are delighted to be hosting the competition and partnering with the Gateways Festival. There’s some incredible local talent out there and we’re looking forward to some exciting heats.”

For more details, visit gatewaysfestival.co.uk/battle-of-the-bands.