Organisers of Baldock’s annual festival of street music are getting into gear for this year’s big bash.

It will all kick off on Friday, September 11, and fill the town with sound over the following weekend, with a packed programme of bands already lined up to appear.

As they fine tune the running order, the Balstock team led by G La Roche have announced the good cause which will benefit from the event.

The St Thomas Lupus Trust supports research into a complex and poorly understood condition which affects many parts of the body and causes symptoms ranging from mild to life-threatening.

For reasons which have still not been established, the immune system in people affected by Lupus starts to attack and inflame healthy cells, tissue and organs.

The charity gets no support from the National Health Service or the government, and relies solely upon donations to help them continue their pioneering work. They receive no NHS or Government funding.

You can find out more at www.lupus.org.uk.

The vast bulk of all the money raised through Balstock goes to charity, with only 20 per cent ploughed back into festival running costs.

The festival, now in its 10th year, is still on the lookout for volunteers to help the weekend go with a swing.

If you’d like to find out more and are free to offer help over the weekend, email the team via balstockvounteers@hotmail.co.uk.

You can keep up-to-date with festival progress on Facebook, Twitter (@Balstock) and Instagram (Balst0ck) and there’s plenty of information available online at www.balstock.com, too.