POPULAR ska/reggae band the New Town Kings will be performing live at the Kingsway Hall next weekend.

Essex Rocks and the Harwich Festival will be hosting the concert on Saturday June 24, at 8pm.

The band will headline the event, which will also feature support from regular Essex Rocks bands Elephant Jane and Kill the Party, as part of this year’s Harwich Festival of the Arts.

Hailing from New Town, Colchester, the New Town Kings’ modern twist on classic Jamaican music has seen them tour the country and play with the likes of the Skints, Gentlemen’s Dub Club and US reggae legends the Aggrolites. The nine-piece have clocked up over 500 shows across 10 different countries since their formation.

Michael Offord, from the Harwich Festival, said: “We have been working with Essex Rocks since last October to promote Live Music in Harwich, events have been well attended and we are really happy to be able to include one these nights in the general festival programme – particularly with an act as popular as the New Town kings.”

Chris Berwick, of Essex Rocks, said: “We have worked with the New Town Kings, arguably one of the biggest bands in the region, a number of times over the years and the events are always really well supported.

“We are really happy to be able to bring them back to Harwich and to be able to give unsigned acts the opportunity to support them and play to what we expect to be a large audience.”

Tickets are £8 in advance from Harwich Box Office in Harwich Library, or online at www.harwichfestival.co.uk or £10 on the door.