The founding father of chart-topping group Soul II Soul, Jazzie B, is set to headline a Suffolk music festival this summer.

The DJ, producer and originator of the pioneering Soul II Soul sound system, who topped the charts with Back to Life (However Do You Want Me), will be performing at Woodbridge's Elmhurst Park in September.

Jazzie B, aka Trevor Beresford Romeo, was made an OBE for services to music in 2008, to go along with two Grammys and an Ivor Novello Award for Inspiration.

The Keep On Movin' producer has been announced as the first headline act for Woodbridge Festival of Art and Music on Saturday, September 4.

Organisers have promised a line-up including local and international artists – with tickets due to go on sale from this Saturday, July 10.

Jazzie B will play a DJ set at the festival's main event in Elmhurst Park.

The return of the festival follows a lockdown programme that included well-known acts and local talent playing town venues.

They included DJ Les Spaine, singer Leee John, of soul trio Imagination, rising Czech songwriter AIKO and club jazz pioneers Red Snapper, who all played at The Riverside, raising funds to keep the historic venue going following the theatre's enforced closure and damage from a broken boiler.

Ben Osborne, DJ and programme director, said events organised by the Woodbridge Festival of Art and Music helped support more than 40 artists and creative freelancers during the pandemic.

He added: “We’ve worked hard to support music and culture with Covid-safe events throughout the pandemic.

"From June 2020 onward, we held live music and DJ events in the town’s century-old cinema and theatre, The Riverside, at The Table, The Tea Hut and the new waterside venue, The Boathouse.

"We’re delighted to be able also return to the park event with someone as inspiring and iconic as Jazzie as our first headline announcement.

"As a community festival, the event will be affordable, accessible and family friendly.

"There'll be a full programme of live bands and DJs, with visual arts, spoken word performances, workshops, an eco-zone, a kids-zone, food village, bars and stalls."

Tickets will go on sale this Saturday on Eventbrite and can be found, along with more information, at woodbridgefestival.com.