A concert will take place during Fairtrade Fortnight in Devizes next month to encourage people to support banana producers in the Third World.

The theme of the fortnight, from February 24 to March 9, is Make Bananas Fair and renowned folk performer Gareth Davies-Jones, a dedicated supporter of the Fairtrade movement, will play in the town hall on Wednesday March 5 at 7.30pm.

Taysir Arbasi, the Palestinian director of the Fairtrade company Zaytoun, will be there to speak on the problems facing small producers of fruit and veg, and there will be stalls selling Fairtrade goods and an opportunity to sign a petition.

Antonia Tolhurst of the Devizes Fairtrade Group said: “The truth is that bananas are now sold so cheaply by supermarkets that many farmers and workers who produce them are being trapped in a cycle of poverty.”

Tickets for the concert are on sale at Devizes Books or on the door. Normally the fortnight would kick off with a Fairtrade fair in the Market Place and Corn Exchange but because the Corn Exchange is booked, it will now take place on Saturday April 12 from 10am to 2pm.

Town mayor Pete Smith and Claire Perry MP will open the fair at 10.30am.