THE Poole Harbour Festival kicks off tonight with more than 40 live acts taking place across three stages this weekend.

Ray Dorset of the legendary 1970s band Mungo Jerry who is due to release a new album next month, says he is looking forward to performing tomorrow.

“It will be an entertaining, happy and rhythmic afternoon to suit every generation. I’ve got a great band with me. We’ll be playing tracks off the new album as well as some of the old favourites like In The Summertime of course so it will be an eclectic mix.

“We like to play a whole range of genres and we never play the same song twice.

“It might have the same beginning and end, but there is always an element of spontaneity somewhere otherwise you might as well be sat at home and listening to a studio recording.”

Ray says he loves performing live and supporting local events: “There’s no such thing as a bad audience, it’s down to the performer to dig deep and engage with them.

“People want to be entertained, they want to forget about their troubles for a while and that’s what we are aiming to do.”

The 73-year-old musician who has lived in Westbourne with his wife Britta for nearly 26 years adds: “Whenever I come home after touring it always reminds me how lucky we are to live here – that’s why I so enjoy supporting community events like Poole Harbour Festival.”

Other festival highlights this year include Britain’s oldest circus show Swamp Circus, and a host of tribute artists including Foo Fighters GB, UK Guns & Roses, The Prodigy tribute Jilted Generation, the Ed Sheeran Experience, Oasiss and the band known as Coldplace.