The summer season is barely in full swing but we're already looking forward to a festival this October. It has just been announced that Van Morrison will headline this year's Sligo Live, one of the country's finest folk events. The mercurial Belfast genius will be at IT Sligo's Knocknarea Arena on Sunday October 28 to premiere his new show Lyrics And Poetry: Emphasis On Words. The one-off gig will feature songs from classic albums such as Astral Weeks, No Guru, No Method, No Teacher and Hymns to the Silence.

But The Belfast Cowboy is not the only highlight by any stretch of the imagination – Sligo Live 2012 runs for an jam-packed six days over the October Bank Holiday Weekend and will feature performances from the likes of Joan Armatrading.

Tickets for Van's October 28 date go on sale this Friday at 10am from [link]www.sligolive.ie[/link] and are priced at €47.50 plus €1 Service charge. A limited number of weekend tickets are available for €112.