The final countdown is on to the new ‘Appleby Summer Pudding’, bringing together a fun-packed family festival with live music, jaw-dropping street circus acts and a vintage funfair by day, and a special evening gig featuring some of the best from across the UK’s festival scene by night.

There is now just over a week to go until this brand new boutique summer festival, as part of Appleby’s fightback from the after-effects of Storm Desmond last December. It will be held in the spectacular surroundings of the medieval Appleby Castle from 12 noon on Saturday 20 August 2016.

The event is the brainchild of one of the North’s leading arts organisations, Eden Arts, and is the first time the privately owned 12th century castle has opened its grounds to this type of major event. It comes as the historic market town bordering the Lake District and the North Pennines bounces back from last winter’s floods and is taking place with support from Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, Eden District Council and Arts Council England as part of Appleby’s flood recovery programme.

So what’s on the menu?

In the daytime (12 noon-7pm) – A feast of family entertainment: The rarely seen castle grounds will welcome acrobatic circus acts, magicians and whimsical fancy dress characters mixing with the crowds. A vintage funfair will come complete with a helter-skelter and children’s rides, as well as a big tented retro crafty market and foodie extravaganza. That’s not to mention den-building, face-painting, faerie-making and even poi-swinging…

The fantastical array of street performers includes a new performance piece called Project_Vee, which was originally commissioned by the Salisbury Festival and sees jugglers spinning around 10ft in the air as they pass juggling clubs to each other. Meanwhile, an eclectic line up across two daytime music stages – the ‘Goosefield’ and the ‘Strawberry and Creamfield’ – will feature everything from retro blues and jazz, to indie-rock and dance bands from near and far. A taster includes rising stars Hardwicke Circus (fresh from Kendal Calling and Glastonbury 2016), with Mylittlebrother and Dohnut among the other local favourites.

By night (6.15pm-11.30pm) – An intimate music gig with big names from the likes of Glastonbury, WOMAD and Bestival: This very special ‘after-party’ deep inside the castle will be headlined by chart-topping dance act Sam and the Womp who have clocked up more than 30 million views on YouTube and already have a UK number one (‘Bom Bom’) under their belt.

Also on the bill are The Correspondents, who have been named in the ‘top ten Glastonbury highlights’ for two years in a row, and Gypsy Hill who are veterans of Europe’s festival scene and bring a unique blend Balkan brass, Mediterranean surf rock, ska and swing.

There are plenty of camping pitches available (£10 each), with parking just 5 minutes away from the castle grounds.

Adrian Lochhead, Director of Eden Arts, says, “It’s hard to describe how excited we are about this fabulous new summer festival, which is a great addition to Cumbria’s events calendar. After last year’s floods, we were asked if we could put together a large scale event to help Appleby bounce back and the Summer Pudding is the result!

“We’ve handpicked a huge range of street performers and live music acts to make this the biggest party Appleby has ever seen. With nostalgic family fun throughout the day and a more intimate, edge feel to the evening gig, it has all the ingredients to bring in visitors not only from Cumbria, but from across the North of England for a unique day out against the backdrop of this epic fairytale castle.”

David Hymers, Economy Portfolio Holder for Eden District Council adds, “We are really keen to support this new event for Appleby following the devastation of the floods in the area. Eden Arts have a history of producing very successful events in Eden, such as Penrith’s Winter Droving, so we look forward to yet another, and we encourage local people and businesses to get involved wherever possible to maximise the benefit for Appleby and the surrounding area.”

Appleby Summer Pudding Festival – Where and how

Day tickets are £1 for children and £10 for adults. Adult tickets for the after-party are £15 each, with combined daytime and after-party tickets also available (£15 for children and £20 for adults). www.summerpudding.co.uk/tickets

Highly reduced residents’ tickets (for anyone living in a CA16 or CA17 postcode) cost just £2 for adults – with free entry for children. They are available exclusively from Appleby Tourist Information Centre.