Where: Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe

When: Saturday and Sunday, July 20 and 21, 2019

A festival with a difference will take place at Sudeley Castle next summer, which organisers promise will be like 'dreaming with your eyes open'.

The event will see a host of costumed characters from around the world visit the Winchcombe attraction for a weekend of music, fantasy, entertainment and wonder.

For the first time, characters from all genres will gather together for the Fantasy Forest Festival which will take place over the weekend of July 20 and 21, 2019.

Visitors are invited to don their favourite costume to join the event and mingle alongside a host of characters, from fairies, pirates and Vikings, to Stormtroopers, knights and elves. Live music will also be on offer from leading Celtic rock groups The Dolmen and Greenrose Faire, as well as Irish folk band Harmony Glen and UK folk-goth band Inkubus Sukkubus.

Tickets have now gone on sale for the family-friendly festival, which will be the first of its kind to take place in the UK. Discounts are available for early bird bookings.

Event organiser Martin Pelgrim said the event was a new and exciting concept: "The Fantasy Forest Festival is a combination of a number of existing events and festivals, which will see people from all walks of life coming together in one place to enjoy a visual spectacle like nothing that has ever taken place in the UK before."

Co-organiser Guy Clifford added: We are thrilled to have so many fantastic bands, artists and special guests confirmed for the event, and to have Sudeley Castle as the backdrop will be the perfect magical setting for an event that promises to be out of this world."

Other highlights of the festival will include appearances from one of the world's leading armourers, Terry English, who has created armour for many classic film productions including Excalibur, Aliens, First Knight, Batman and Robin and Gladiator. He has made suits of armour for leading actors including Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton, Richard Gere and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

World-renowned Italian costume designer and make-up artist Manuel D'Andrea will also be a special guest at the weekend and will be giving demonstrations on make-up artistry.

British writer and expert in medieval legends Professor Roland Rotherham will also be giving talks at the event, and internationally-renowned artist Anne Sudworth will be exhibiting her works which will include magical trees and haunting moonlit landscapes.

Throughout the weekend a host of other entertainment and activities will be on offer, including costume competitions, dancing workshops, children's entertainers, archery, Viking and medieval re-enactment, a Wicker Man ceremony, food stalls, traders and much more.

For more information and ticket details, visit the Fantasy Forest website.