SOUTHEND will be rocking this Saturday with more than 50 top bands playing in recognition of the town.

The Purple Festival – hosted by pub and restaurant owners, the council, the SOS bus and the police – will take place from 5pm until 9pm on three stages – at the top of the Pier Hill outside Debenhams, outside the Papillon and Chinnery’s, and by the police hut and water fountains on the seafront at City Beach.

The festival is in honour of Southend’s Purple Flag status, which is the accreditation scheme that recognises excellence in the management of town and city centres at night.

Southend was one of only 41 towns and cities to be bestowed with the Purple Flag honour last year.

Glyn Morgan, a partner at Chinnery’s on the seafront, is one of the main organisers of the festival. He says: “We have a committee and we got together to talk about how we can keep the award moving and educate people about what it means for us to have a Purple Flag.

“We proposed putting on this festival. This is the first one, but we are hoping we can make it really big in the future, something like the Great Escape festival they have in Brighton, which goes on over the whole weekend.”

The fun will also continue across various venues until late, including Chinnery’s, Papillon, the Railway Hotel, O’Neills, the Borough Hotel, and the Slug and Lettuce.

At 7.30pm, a spectacular firework display will take place, the first of a series which will take place every Saturday at the same time until November 16.

Dave Dulake, of the Railway Hotel in Clifftown Road, says: “Be proud! Be a Southender! Stick on an overcoat and come to this, a four-hour-long shouty celebration in the High Street and on the seafront. Look for the purple lights.”