THE 2012 Portland’s Big Grove Summer Festival launched in style with £800-worth of donations to island causes.

Cheques were presented to five nominated Portland causes at the annual presentation evening.

Organisers Sarah Whiteside and Jane Hurdiss celebrated a ‘fantastic turnout’ at the launch in The Grove School.

They announced that this year’s festival would be held on Saturday, July 7 at the Young Offender Institution (YOI) stadium ground, off Grove Road.

A total of £800 was presented to The Grove School, iPlay, the YMCA, Portland Museum, the Drop In and Portland Hospital from the proceeds of last year’s fundraising extravaganza.

Now in its fifth year, this summer’s event will feature Surfin Birds as the headline musical act on the main stage and a return of the open mic session on the second stage.

Other attractions will include a fun fair, children’s corner, traders, food outlets and a fully licensed bar.

The Mini Moving Tides procession is returning for a second year as part of the borough’s Spirit of the Sea maritime festival.

Mrs Whiteside said unfortunately the team could not run the football tournament this year as they had lost their organiser and so they were instead trying to arrange a tug of war.

She said: “Our annual presentation evening saw us donate £800 to local nominees, The Grove School, iPlay, the YMCA, Portland Museum, the Drop In and Portland Hospital.

“Our event last year was a fantastic success and we have a new and exciting line-up of local music and family entertainment for our 2012 Big Grove Summer Festival on July 7 at the YOI Stadium Ground.

“We return to this beautiful venue, thanks to the YOI Portland.

“The festival team have been working hard behind the scenes and this will be our first year as an independent voluntary organisation, while we continue working towards charitable status.

“There will be a renewed focus on the music, with new acts and some of Weymouth and Portland’s best acts on the bill, with the Surfin Birds headlining on the main stage and our popular open mic session on the second stage.

“You can also look forward to an on-site fun fair, children’s corner, traders, food outlets and our fully licensed bar.”

To find out more about the festival, including applications to trade or perform at the event, please contact the Big Grove Festival team by emailing biggrovesumfest@googlemail.com, finding Grove Festival on Facebook or calling 07896424797 or 07765780142.