FINALISTS have been revealed for the showcase final of the Purbeck Valley Folk Festival’s talent competition, Purbeck Rising.

The most popular acts have gone through to a live final at the festival, which takes place from August 25 to 28, on the Saturday afternoon.

The remaining acts are Nicole McNally, Jack Pratchett, Jonny Phillips, Fountainhead and Mikey Ball.

However, in an exciting turn of events, a further three acts have been added to the final from a special Purbeck Rising fast track event held earlier this month.

These three new acts are Dave Stoker, Matt Underdown and Delphis.

Started in response to the hundreds of applications received from bands and artists wanting to play the festival, Purbeck Rising offers an opportunity for new acts to play at the family festival with a main stage slot, a day’s studio recording and much more up for grabs.

Organiser Catherine Burke says: “Purbeck Rising is a great opportunity for bands to get involved in the festival. It’s not just for local bands - we’ve had entrants from across Europe. And although it’s a great chance for up and coming young bands to get noticed, we don’t discriminate with age - one of our finalists last year was a cappella group ‘No Direction’ which is a four-piece with members much closer to pension than pocket money!”

The competition has been a springboard for previous finalists, such as Bournemouth-based trio Kadia who have since released their debut album East of Alexandria last year and seen their profile grow rapidly since entering Purbeck Rising in 2013.

Kadia return to play the Purbeck Valley Folk Festival on the Friday.

The contest will be decided by public vote and a panel of experts with the winning act invited back to play a main stage set next year, as well as a spot at the Folk on the Quay festival in Poole in June 2017 and a day’s recording at Sizzle Studio in Bournemouth.

The festival features more than 70 folk, roots and world music acts - including favourites The Proclaimers.

Further major headliners include BBC Folk Award winning folk supergroup Eliza Carthy & the Wayward Band and the Ivor-Novello award-winning Villagers.

For more information, go to purbeckvalleyfolkfestival.co.uk