AWARD-winning Tynedale folk band The Unthanks have been booked to headline this year’s Holy Island festival.

The festival, staged between June 24 and 26, will celebrate a whole host of North-East talent.

The internationally-acclaimed group – comprising sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank, Adrian McNally and Chris Price – will perform at St Mary’s Church on the evening of Sunday, June 26.

Becky said: “Growing up, we often visited the Northumberland coast and feel a connection to the area.

“That connection has been renewed more recently, because for six years now we have run singing weekends on the Northumberland coast.

“The songs, the food, the (sometimes wild) winter walks to the pub are special memories we share.

“I think part of what draws people to come on our singing weekends is the relationship our music has with the area’s countryside, coast and history.

“We are really looking forward to being a part of the festival and I’m excited to explore Holy Island as a grown-up!”

Sister Rachel, who is married to Adrian – also the group’s manager, musical arranger and producer – added: “Being on this piece of the Northumberland coast inspires and grounds us, so playing on Holy Island will be a real treat.

“It is a magical place. What a grand setting for a festival and a dramatic platform to sing and play music.

“We run singing weekends near Seahouses and the people who come and have never experienced the raw and wild beauty of the area are blown away with its majestic sense of horizon and space.

“People come from all over the UK and Europe to our weekends and, as well as singing the songs of our region with them.

“It’s a joy to show them the beauty of our coast and to create the economic contribution our weekenders make to a rural coastal area in the depths of winter.”

More than 4,000 visitors flocked to Lindisfarne to enjoy the first-ever Holy Island festival last year.

And a sell-out crowd of 250 people – including tourists and island residents – packed into St Mary’s Church to see The Lindisfarne Story performed by Ray Laidlaw and Prudhoe’s Billy Mitchell.

This year, the Holy Island Festival is partnering with the Peregrini Lindisfarne Landscape Partnership.

As part of the festival, the partnership will deliver a range of cultural and natural heritage activities which link to some of the projects being completed as part of the scheme.

The activities aim to help people understand and enjoy the amazing landscape of Holy Island and the adjacent mainland.