BUDDING musicians have the chance to feature alongside famous names at the Nantwich Jazz festival.

The Guardian has teamed up with organisers to invite artists to submit demo tapes of their work, with the winner getting the chance to perform at the White Horse on Friday, April 18.

With the stars from the likes of The Jam and Wishbone Ash performing at the 18th annual festival, due to attract 40,000 people over five days, it’s a chance for local talent to be given a national platform.

Organiser Philip Martin, of the Crown Hotel and Restaurant, said: “The contest is a great, new idea for this year. We’re the largest town event in the north west. We’re selling tickets all over the country and the quality of the acts we’ve got this year is excellent.

“We’re expecting some great entries and the White Horse is one of the biggest venues, so it’s an excellent opportunity.”

The White Horse will also be putting up £100 music shop voucher prize for the winner to spend. Highlights for the festival in 2014, between April 17 to 21, include Thea Gilmore, Deborah Bonham, Bruce Foxton’s From the Jam, Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash and Scottish rockers, Big Country.

Philip added: “I’m expecting this year’s festival to be the best one yet. There are three new venues this year, great acts, and this year and tickets are selling very quickly.”

For tickets, see nantwichjazz.com To enter the competition, include band/artist name, contact name, number and email address, brief biography and links to Facebook, YouTube or SoundCloud of your music. Or you can email your audio clips in MP3 format to webeditor@nqnw.co.uk. A panel of judges will select the winner. Usual Newsquest rules apply newsquest.co.uk/terms