THE line-up for this year's Ilkley Summer Festival is taking shape in a first draft of the programme for August's month-long event.

Summer festival organisers have fixed dates for more than 20 events, despite losing the variety show which had been planned for the Kings Hall and Winter Garden.

The Winter Garden is expected to be out of action from August for up to four months, as reported recently by the Gazette, as Bradford Council refurbishes the hall's glazed roof.

The festival will this year begin on Monday July 30, when the annual cricket school for youngsters at Ben Rhydding sports club gets under way. Former Yorkshire county cricketer Mike Bore will share his expertise with aspiring young cricketers.

Ilkley's Yorkshire Day celebrations on Wednesday, August 1, will again be one of the opening events of the festival, and other favourites from previous years are again in the programme.

A two-day beer festival at Ilkley Rotary Club, on August 3 and 4, is among the newer events to the festival. And after a concert in the new venue of Spence's Garden, King's Road, last summer, the natural arena' of parkland will become the centre of The Big Weekend series of concerts.

Young Guiseley jazz sensation, Peter Grant, will perform on August 17, top British jazz singer Claire Martin will sing on August 18, and a picnic concert featuring classical Spanish guitarist Eduardo Nieblo will take place in Spence's Garden on August 19.

On the same weekend, the festival son et lumiere will make a bigger and better comeback in the form of the Ilkley Illuminate event, with illumination and entertainment expected to reach out from Mill Ghyll and on to The Grove.

The Grove is set to be the venue for two major concerts in the programme, the return of the Rock Along the Grove 1950s afternoon and evening on August 4, and the ever-popular Last Night of the Proms on August 25.

The Grove will be closed to traffic for three days once again from August 10 to 12 to make way for the Continental Street Market, featuring music on the Ilkley bandstand and an old fashioned funfair.

Ilkley artist Graeme Willson is set to hold an exhibition from August 9 to 11to coincide with the festival. Ilkley Flower Show will this year be held at the Clarke Foley Centre, Cunliffe Road, on August 11.

The children's theme day on August 15 will have an animal theme, with Beatrix Potter stories in the library, and furry fun' at the bandstand.

The summer festival organisers are also expected to reveal the names of the event's main sponsors shortly.