TICKETS for Devizes Arts Festival go on sale on Tuesday and a number of performances are expected to sell out quickly.

One of the top draws is likely to be veteran newsman John Simpson who will be in the Corn Exchange on opening night of May 31.

Festival chairman Margaret Bryant said: "An audience with … John Simpson promises to give amazing insight to many world events.

“With over 40 years’ experience in international journalism, John has dodged the bullets in Tiananmen Square, danced on top of the Berlin Wall, and was covered the revolutions in Czechoslovakia and Romania. "He stood alongside Boris Yeltsin during the KGB coup which brought down the Soviet Union, and was the first Western journalist to penetrate the KGB headquarters in Moscow."

His new book Moscow Midnight is a fast paced thriller and he will sign copies at the end of the evening.

Other big names coming to Devizes include comedian Ed Byrne who has enjoyed huge critical and popular success including at the Edinburgh Fringe.

On the music front The Real Thing known a pioneers in soul, funk and dance music will perform while Grupo Lokito will bring a fusion of contemporary Congolese and Cuban music.

Comedy features include An evening of Eric and Ern - Olivier Award nominated duo, from West End hit Eric and Little Ern, bringing renditions of those famous comedy sketches.

Audiences with Fay Weldon and Bob Flowerdew are also booked.

This year there are 31 acts packed in the festival period which ends on June 16. Music, drama, comedy, and literature will feature.

Ms Bryant said: “Entertaining and exciting is the way that I would describe our 2019 Festival Programme. It has a raft of inspiring and creative acts, so we invite you to listen, watch, dance and soak up the atmosphere.

"Last year we had 15 sold out events, so get your tickets quickly."

To check out what you might want to see and to buy tickets go to www.devizesartsfestival.org.uk Tickets will also be available from Devizes Books.