A UNIQUE Shropshire music festival which celebrates Cajun-Creole and Louisiana roots music and dance is returning after a year’s absence.

Musicians from America, Europe and the UK headline at the sixth North Shropshire Big Weekend which takes place on August 17-19.

The event will bring Louisiana stars Drew Simon and Harold Guillory to Welshampton, near Ellesmere, in a packed weekend of Cajun-Creole music, dance and culture.

The festival is the brainchild of leading Cajun musician Gavin Lewery, who lives in Ellesmere and has close connections with Welshampton.

He explained that this was one of the few festivals in Europe to bring in America’s international Cajun musicians.

“We took a break last year but we are back with a star-studded line-up of Cajun and Zydeco from Louisiana, Tex Mex from Paris, rock n’ roll from our own Shropshire Bobcats band as well as the very best of the home-grown UK Cajun and Zydeco bands,” he said.

The festival is based around Welshampton Parish Hall and The Sun Inn.

A full schedule of the line-up is on the website at www.northshropshirecajun.co.uk with tickets available for the full weekend priced at £60 or individual events from £12 to £20.

For further information contact the Big Weekend team at northshropshirecajun@hotmail.co.uk