Volunteers are needed to help make Melksham’s summer music festival twice as successful, as the organisers seek to extend it over a weekend.

The annual Party in the Park usually takes place on a Saturday night in King George V Playing Fields after the town carnival, but this year it could become a two-day festival – if enough people come forward to help.

The party is held as part of the Melksham Music Festival, and features a packed bill of local and visiting performers. This year’s is due to take place on July 12, with the proposed Friday show on July 11.

Festival chairman Tom Sangster said: “We would love to go ahead with this Friday evening concert which would be great for the town and in effect give us a weekend of entertainment in the park to work alongside the carnival.

“We have to be realistic, though, it can only work if we get the right level of voluntary support.

“We’re looking for maybe about 30 volunteers to help with admission and the clean-up operation afterwards.

“The jobs are not too difficult to deal with, nobody will be expected to stay on the gate and do it all by themselves, they will have supervision.

“But if we don’t get them we can’t do the event.”

Turning Party in the Park into a two-day event would allow a wider range of artists to perform in the town, which the festival committee is keen to encourage.

Mr Sangster said: “We have already got a few things in mind.

“On the Saturday the bands are very much the party stuff, so it’s a bit more mainstream, so maybe on the Friday we can do something a little different as a one-off concert.”

To help on the Friday, email the committee at melkshamparty@fsmail. net