A SUMMER festival showcasing all things rock and some other bands besides is coming to the heart of Trowbridge.

MiniFest 2008 taking place in Trowbridge Civic Hall on August 16 and 17 is a local event with both national and homebred bands that promises to draw in crowds from the local area and rock fans from around the country.

Organised by Trowbridge 27-year-old Sam Robson, with support from Trowbridge Town Council and sponsored by local website design firm WebCreation UK, the festival is putting Trowbridge on the musical map.

Headlining at the event is Fightstar, a four-piece rock band from London formed in 2003 by Charlie Simpson, formerly of boy band Busted.

Cult of Luna, Devil Sold His Soul, Architects and Frank Turner are just some of the other bands to be confirmed for the line-up this year.

Now in its second year the festival is four times bigger than its first incarnation in 2007 and is set to grow exponentially if festival organiser Sam Robson gets his way.

He said: "I've been putting together events for a few years now and started my own business called Edgeless Promotions.

"You have to build up a bit of trust and respect with band agents for them to be able to rely on you and be confident that you will put on a quality festival.

"After years of hard work I'm now able to get big bands like Fightstar on the line-up.

"This festival is going to grow and grow. People will be coming from al over the country to see these acts and they will be exposed to acts like Frank Turner, who is not what conventional rock fans would expect to see but will certainly like his music."

Trowbridge Town Council is backing the festival and the council's technical manager Karl Buckingham is supporting Mr Robson.

He said: "It's a massive event for Trowbridge as well as being a bit out of the ordinary.

"The Civic Hall is developing as a venue and it is becoming a sought after destination.

"We're going to have two stages for the festival with bars and light shows. It's going to pretty special."

Trowbridge firm WebCreation UK, based in Fore Street, is sponsoring the event.

WebCreation's Leon Millard, said: "Sam's been a friend for a long time and all of us at WebCreation love the concept behind MiniFest and what he's doing with it. We're putting up money and doing the advertising and posters because it ties in with the ethos of the people behind out business."

To book tickets visit seetickets.com or call (01225) 762439. For more information about the festival visit minifest2008.com.