With thousands of families and music fans set to descend on Tudor Grange Park this weekend, the team behind Solihull Summer Fest is putting the finishing touches to its biggest event yet.

The popular festival returns for its 10th anniversary this year, with organisers expecting crowds of around 7,500 people on both days and a sell-out Saturday looking increasingly likely.

Festival founder Ian Rogers said preparations for the event have been years in the making, with organisers building on a decade of experience to deliver a smooth weekend for visitors.

"We're ten years in now, so the site's pretty much tried and tested," he said.

"Over the years, we've adapted and changed, but we like the current site layout."

Although the festival's format remains largely unchanged, organisers continue to refine the experience for visitors.

The Guinness Irish Tent, which was introduced last year, will return after proving popular with festival-goers and has now become a permanent feature of the site.

The Guinness Tent will also be joined by 19 different food vendors, catering to a large range of dietary needs.

To mark the milestone anniversary, organisers have also invested heavily in this year's entertainment.

"We spent an additional £350,000 on the line-up," Rogers said.

"We secured acts like Culture Club, with Boy George flying over from New York to perform, as well as JLS and Craig David.

"We wanted to bring in bigger acts that haven't played here before."

Choosing the line-up is a year-round process, with organisers paying close attention to audience feedback and the artists that resonate most with festival-goers.

"We look at what people enjoy, the age groups attending and the kind of music they want to see," Rogers explained.

"We use what we've learned from previous years to shape future line-ups."

As the festival prepares to welcome thousands of visitors, Rogers reflected on how far the event has come since its launch in 2016.

Originally conceived as a charity fundraiser, the festival's first year proved challenging financially.

"It lost a quarter of a million pounds in year one," he said.

"We learned a lot of lessons, but we fell in love with what we'd created and wanted to find a way to make it work."

Although the festival is no longer run as a charity event, supporting good causes remains a key part of its mission.

This year's charity partner is the Matt Gallagher Foundation, which supports people across the West Midlands living with Motor Neurone Disease, while previous beneficiaries have included Midlands Air Ambulance.

Organisers also donate thousands of pounds worth of tickets each year to charities, schools, and organisations supporting young people and foster families, helping those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to attend.

Tudor Grange Park has hosted the festival since the beginning and remains its home a decade later. Despite the event's growth, Rogers believes the Solihull venue continues to offer the ideal setting.

"It's one of the most suitable and accessible parks in Solihull," he said.

"There have been times when we've sold out and could have done with more space, but I don't think there's anywhere better."

Looking ahead to the anniversary weekend, Rogers said the aim remains the same as it was ten years ago: creating memorable experiences for local people.

"We've brought artists from all over the world to a park in Solihull," he said.

"When you look around and see people enjoying themselves with their friends and families, you can see we're creating memories that last a lifetime."

To find out more about the lineup or purchase tickets, click here.