The riverside is set to rock this weekend as music and family fun and games descend on an Ilkley park.

Top performers at this weekend’s Picnic and Party at the Riverside will be charismatic rhythm and blues singer, pianist and songwriter Mike Sanchez, and Steve Little AKA The Great Pretender, with his dazzling tribute to legendary Freddie Mercury.

Organisers are hoping for sunshine on Saturday and Sunday to make for a perfect family day out at the Riverside Gardens.

But they will also be setting up a big top to make sure the show does go on, even in wet weather.

The Party and Picnic marks the third weekend of this year’s Ilkley Summer Festival, and more events are yet to come throughout the month.

Still to come this year is the Dolce Vita Cabaret, on the Grove on Saturday, August 21, and the Last Night of the Proms concert, which will bring more music to the Grove on Saturday, August 28. Tickets for these events are on sale at the visitor information centre, Ilkley Town Hall.

This weekend’s music in the Riverside Gardens gets in full swing from 2.30pm on Saturday. Ilkley’s Jolly Jivers will by DJing between acts, and have invited fellow rock ’n’ roll enthusiasts from around the county to get jiving on the chequered dance floor.

Performers are set to include bands Boogie up a Storm and Rock Back the Clock. The headline act, however, will be Mike Sanchez and his band.

London-born Sanchez, 46, hailed by some as one of the most exciting and charismatic performers of rhythm and blues and rock ’n’ roll in the world, is also known for his work with the Big Town Playboys and Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings.

The party goes on until around 9.30pm On Sunday, it will be the turn of the Great Pretender to take to the stage, backed by the HRH band. Steve Littlewood’s tribute to the late Freddie Mercury aims to faithfully recreate the music of Queen, with a spectacular sound and light show, and recapture some of the flamboyant frontman’s most outrageous outfits.

The show, running from 3pm to 8pm, also features band Five Dollar Shows, and will be hosted by Jones and Barnard.

The Picnic and Party are organised by Bradford District Parks as part of the summer festival.

More festival events are also taking place this weekend.

A Songs of Praise event, featuring traditional and modern worship songs, will take place at the bandstand on the Grove on Sunday, starting at 12.30pm.

Artists Joy Godfrey and Chris Bailey, meanwhile, will open up their studio at 4 Back Nelson Road from 2pm to 4.30pm, to give art lovers a chance to see their work up close and discuss their techniques. The next heritage guided walk will take place on Sunday afternoon, on the theme of Artisan Town. Walkers should meet at the visitor information centre, Ilkley Town Hall, at 2pm.

On Wednesday, August 18, a walk exploring Roman Ilkley will start at the Manor House Museum at 2pm, and a walk seeking Ilkley Bath Charity Hospital will set off from the town hall at 7pm.

More information on the summer festival is available from Ilkley Visitor Information Centre, telephone 01943 602319.