Plus music lovers and budding film makers can feed their passion with the Fringe festival. (the best bit)

Now in its third year, the Fringe event celebrates the city’s original musicians in the venues that support new music all year round.

From Saturday 28 to late on Monday 30 August, venues taking part in the Fringe will be buzzing with the sounds of the best up and coming Liverpool bands. From all day gigs at the Zanzibar and Heebie Jeebies on Seel Street, acoustic sessions at the world famous Parr Street Studio 2 to music and film with Urban Strawberry Lunch in St Luke’s bombed out church.

And if seeing the latest acts live isn’t enough, all the venues will be giving away a special limited edition Fringe CD containing 20 tracks by the city’s most talked about acts including The Delta Fiasco, Wave Machines, The Bo Weevils and Slopes.

Organisers are also setting creative festival-goers a cinematic challenge – 48 hours to script, shoot and edit a film capturing the spirit of the Fringe Festival and four other elements which will be revealed on Sunday 29 August.  To scoop the £250 prize, interested filmmakers should meet at the café in FACT at 11am on the Sunday.

“Despite it only being the third outing for Fringe, the festival is already hugely popular and it’s a fantastic way for festival-goers to see Liverpool’s hottest musicians over one weekend. It perfectly compliments the Mathew Street Music Festival, giving music lovers the chance to discover the wealth of local musical talent which exists in our city. I’m positive this year will be a huge success and I hope as many people as possible take part and make it a bank holiday weekend to remember.”

Anyone taking part in the 48-hour film challenge must return their completed films (in DVD format) to FACT by 11am on Tuesday 31 August. For more information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or go to http://www.mathewstreetfringe.com/

For the first time in the the Mathew Streets Festival history and to celebrate their 18th Birthday Liverpool City Council in partnership with Kisky Media have created a free downloadable Mathew Street Music Festival virtual birthday gift for all our loyal fans - available on the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Search the App store for details or download the gift at http://j.mp/lwg-msmf but you’ll have to be quick as there are only 10,000 available

Don’t miss the Fringe Music Festival!

Participating Fringe venues include:

3345 www.3345parrst.com

Aloha www.alohabar.co.uk

Bad Format Social Club www.badformatsocialclub.co.uk

The Bluecoat www.thebluecoat.org.uk

Bumper www.bumperliverpool.co.uk

The Grapes www.thegrapesliverpool.co.uk

Heebie Jeebies 80-82 Seel Street Liverpool

The Krazyhouse www.thekrazyhouse.co.uk

Leaf Tea Shop and Bar www.thisisleaf.co.uk

Mello Mello www.mellomello.co.uk

O2 Academy Liverpool www.o2academyliverpool.co.uk

The Picket www.myspace.com/picketliverpool

The Orchard www.theorchardliverpool.com

St Lukes (bombed out church) www.usl.org.uk

Studio 2 Parr Street www.parrstreet.co.uk

The Zanzibar www.thezanzibarclub.com

FACT www.fact.co.uk