With the summer fast approaching, people can stay close to home for their festival-fix now an all day music event has been announced for Highbury Fields.

Glastonbury may be taking a break this year but GigNics, a free event on June 9, will give Islington folk the chance to don wellies, dance around in a field and listen to top bands without ever leaving the borough.

A total of 2,000 free tickets are up for grabs from today.

Acts already confirmed for the event include British hip-hoppers Rizzle Kicks, grime stars Clement Marfo and The Frontline and BBC Radio 1Xtra’s MistaJam.

King Charles and Josh Osho are also on the bill, while Portuguese chicken restaurant Nando’s – which organised the event – say that many more acts will be announced soon.

In between the live shows, eclectic DJ sets will provide a mixture of world music.

For the picnic side of the festival, there will be deck chairs and blankets and huge helpings of peri-peri chicken served throughout the park.

Organisers also promise plenty of sideshow entertainment throughout the eight hour event, from 1 to 9pm.

Martin Jones, chairman of the Higbury Fields Association, said: "We have three concerns about festivals – no on else can use the park when they take place, the trucks and trailers can cause damage to the park, and they are too loud, so local residents get treated to a free concert of music that might not be of their choosing.

"But we recognise that Islington needs to have festivals and this is the only reasonably sized green space in the borough."

The 2,000 free tickets are up for grabs from today, until April 30, from www.nandos.co.uk/gignics.