ONE of the biggest events in the music calendar will be taking place on Suffolk's doorstep this weekend and preparations were today well underway.The annual V Festival will take place over two days in Chelmsford, Essex and will bring a whole host of today's major music stars to East Anglia.

ONE of the biggest events in the music calendar will be taking place on Suffolk's doorstep this weekend and preparations were today well underway.

The annual V Festival will take place over two days in Chelmsford, Essex and will bring a whole host of today's major music stars to East Anglia.

The V Festival, which is now in it's eleventh year, is held at two sites - Hylands Park in Chelmsford and Weston Park in Staffordshire - with the acts swapping sites over the two days.

Ipswich music fans will be joining the thousands of revellers who will descend on the sites over the two days, filling fields with a sea of colourful tents, collectively downing gallons of beer and munching tons of food.

But while festivals have become just as popular for the friendly atmosphere and weekend long party, the ultimate draw will always be the music.

This year has seen the V organisers once again draw in a stellar line up of stars to perform.

Headliners on the main stage - The V Stage - in Chelmsford on Saturday will be Radiohead, while Sunday will see Morrissey be the big attraction.

Radiohead have had a massive cult following for many years and their performance is bound to be a big draw for their dedicated fans. Sunday's Morrissey performance will see the former Smiths frontman back in the spotlight.

He has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity this year after his latest solo album, Ringleader of the Tormentors hit the number one spot following it's release in April.

Festival goers will have six stages and arenas to choose from this year, with the acts booked to perform coming from all parts of the music spectrum.

Other main stage performances over the weekend will come from Paul Weller, Faithless, Sugababes, Beck, Keane, Bloc Party, Kubb, Hard-Fi, The Dandy Warhols, Kevin Degraw, The Magic Numbers, The Divine Comedy, The Dead 60s and Daniel Powter.

Suffolk drummer Ed Lay, from Haughley, will be performing with his band Editors on The Channel 4 stage, along with Kasabian, Razorlight, The Charlatans, The Ordinary Boys, Starsailor and Orson.

In total over the two days, festival goers can choose from 136 performances.

The 570 acre park is home to Hylands House, a 1728 neo-classical grade two listed restored house.

The park has an ancient woodland, ponds, formal pleasure gardens and a serpentine lake.

It also has a wide variety of interesting flora, fauna and wildlife including badgers, foxes, squirrels and deer and a number of mature trees including oak, ash, hornbeam and field maple.

Source: www.vfestival.com