APRIL 22: SALES of tickets for this year's Wiltshire Festival rocketed this week after news that Irish soul band The Commitments are to join pop hunks Blue and songbird Jamelia on the bill.

The nine-piece band, dubbed the Saviours of Soul, will be flying in from Dublin to Swindon's Lydiard Park on August 28, to perform songs from the famous 1991 film, The Commitments, including Mustang Sally, Try A Little Tenderness, Take Me To The River, Chain Of Fools and In The Midnight Hour.

Just a week after Blue signed on the dotted line, followed closely by Jamelia, music fans have been queuing around the block for tickets to the event.

At the Link Centre in Swindon, sellers sent out a plea for more tickets after selling out within hours.

And £1,000 of tickets were sold online at the Gazette's website, www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk in the first two hours of going on sale.

Neil Cooper, the director of Green Arena Events and the man putting his might and his own money into the show, admits to having some sleepless nights in the early stages of planning, but believes he's on track to stage the biggest and best music event Swindon's ever seen.

Involved in the festival for many years while working with GWR, the married father-of-three from Minety, took on the festival this year after the previous promoters went into liquidation.

"The festival has given me a few sleepless nights, but news that the tickets are selling very well is great," said Mr Cooper.

"Concerts like these are at the riskier end of investments and ticket sales are the most important issue, but when putting on anything like this, you have to monitor the risks very carefully and plan.

"You keep costs down to a minimum, you make sure you book the right acts for your audience and that is what we are doing, and it's paying off."

Thousands of Wiltshire residents were left disappointed last year when the ten-year-old festival failed to go ahead because of the loss of promoter.

But Mr Cooper believes this year will more than make up for it.

"Blue have a proven track record, Jamelia is very popular and The Commitments are a very well-known band aimed at the whole family," he said.

"Plus we have many other acts to announce yet."

Mr Cooper may have only set up Green Arena Events at the beginning of this year, but he has an impressive track record in event management.

"I have been a managing director for a number of radio stations which have been involved in organising events, including one in Worcester where we staged the first ever music event at Worcester County Cricket Club," he said.

"I thought it was a great shame when the previous promoter of the Wiltshire Festival went into liquidation at the beginning of 2003,"

"Having been involved with the festival, I knew how important it was for Swindon it has been the biggest event on the music calendar and I believed that it should go on, but should be done properly.

"So I set up Green Arena Events and I am using the same backers from previous years (GWR FM, Swindon Borough Council, Newsquest, and Nationwide) and also the same organiser, Andy Cotton from TAO Productions, who was voted UK event organiser of the year in 2002."

While music lovers await further surprises as more acts are announced, Mr Cooper admits to having a heart-stopping moment of his own last week, when he heard a radio report saying that Blue were splitting up.

"It was a mad moment, but the agent assured me it wasn't true," said Mr Cooper.

"Blue are a fantastic band, and the momentum being shown in ticket sales proves that," he added. "And I've seen The Commitments perform a number of times. No matter how young or old, you can't fail to be impressed by their soul-stirring music and pure energy."

News of the acts on offer has also been popular with Mr Cooper's teenage children, Jenny, 19, Matt, 18 and Holly, 16.

"My children have volunteered to join the army of staff who we will have manning the festival, but they know they're going to have to work to pay for their free entry," he joked.

Mr Cooper added: "There has been criticism in the past about Swindon not having much going on in the way of major events, but I'm determined this is going to be something very special.

"There's still a lot to do, but I am keeping one very special moment in my mind and that's seeing Blue walk on stage and 15-20,000 fans screaming in excitement."

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