30,000 fans enjoy Wolvestock country music festival

Tens of thousands of country music fans put on their cowboy hats and soaked up glorious sunshine at the 18th annual Wolvestock festival.

The award-winning show took place at Wolverhampton's East Park attracting with up to 30,000 people through the gates to catch the best UK country music acts.

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With temperatures reaching 22C (71F) visitors enjoyed tropical conditions, which organisers said had a big impact on the healthy turnout.

Keen campers had begun pitching up their tents on Friday, with around 500 choosing to set up camp in East Park, off Hickman Avenue, over the weekend.

Highlights on the bill included Birmingham-three piece The Toy Hearts, who said they were really proud to be headlining what is the country's largest free country music event, after last appearing in 2007.

Other performances came from The Diablos and God's Country, with acts spread across three stages on both days.

Among those enjoying the atmosphere was grandmother Sue Brown, who has attended every Wolvestock festival since it first ran in 1995.

She attended with grand-daughters Autumn, aged five and Willow, three, who looked the part in cowboy outfits.

"We come here every year for the music, we love country and western, said Sue, of Bridgnorth Road, Trescott.

"It's always a lovely atmosphere and the weather is fantastic this year.

"The girls are having a great time."

Sharon Jones spent two weeks making costumes from scratch especially for the event.

She was there with son Lewis Jones, aged 12, partner Colin James, aged 40 and his daughter Libby, aged four.

"It was a lot of hard work making the outfits but it was worth it and it's great to show them off."

Sharon's mother Lesley, from Willenhall, also joined them in the showground with her husband Brian Watson, both in costumes. Mr Watson said Wolvestock was very popular with country music fans.

"The only thing we've had to pay for is our parking and that's a big attraction," he added.

"We travel to events all over the Midlands and they're often dependant on the weather, but there's a big crowd here this weekend and they've got a great line-up of country music."

As well as three stages of music, a fun fair and plenty of stalls kept visitors entertained.

Organiser Jacki Wynn hailed the event as a big success.

"We're really pleased with how it's gone," she said.

"The weather has helped bring people out and it's certainly on a par with last year when we got 30,000 in over the two days."