Superb line-up of music stars including Sean Paul and Beanie Man coming to MK Bowl this summer

A line-up of international stars is to perform at The National Bowl at a huge two-day festival this summer.

Organised by Reggae Land, the festival will take place over the weekend of August 5 and 6 and is expected to attract 30,000 people.

Artists include Sean Paul, Beanie Man, Lila Iké, Protoje, Albarosie & the Shengen Clan, Junior Marvin and the Legendary Wailers, Barrington Levy, Kabaka Pyramid, Steel Pulse Freddie McGregor & The Big Ship Crew, David Rodigan, Mr Vegas and Shy FX.

As well as reggae, there will be dub, jungle, classic rock and dancehall along with a Caribbean food village, run shacks, a reggae flea market, carnival dancers and a fairground.

Last year’s family-friendly Reggae Land was held in Campbell Park and was such a success that it was nominated in three different categories in the UK Festival Awards 2022.

This year it is expanding to The Milton Keynes National Bowl, which was once world renowned for hosting huge concerts. Tickets can be booked here from Friday.

The venue has not been used for years and recently MK Dons were granted planning permission to build their new training ground there, complete with two full size pitches.

Dons chairman Pete Winkelman spent his earlier career in music production and ran one of Europe's leading residential recording studios. He vowed last year to investigate how the Bowl could be once again used for concerts.

As a result, multi-platinum award winning rock band Muse are set to perform at the venue in May as part of their major tour. It will be the first concert that has taken place there for seven years.

The Bowl was once a brick pit and from 1971 surplus soil from road building work in the development of the new city was piled there to create a huge horseshoe-shaped mound surrounding an arena area capable of holding tens of thousands of people.

The idea was to create an open air venue similar to the famous Hollywood Bowl and in 1977 the earthworks were completed.

Over the years, the Bowl hosted a galaxy of world class entertainers including Bon Jovi, Robbie Williams, David Bowie, Eminem, Oasis, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Linkin Park, Take That and Swedish House Mafia.