SINGING sensation Craig David is set to hit the stage at Southend’s Garon Park, with the town once again “buzzing” after laying dormant through the Covid pandemic.

The UK musician, whose list of iconic tunes include 7 Days and Fill Me In, will take to Garon Park on September 17.

Backed by a full live band, the world-renowned star is just one of the first big names to return to Southend since Covid restrictions were eased.

Jacqui Dallimore, managing director of the Roslin Hotel, has even had people book rooms so they can watch the exciting concert.

The chair of Southend Tourism Partnership, said: “Southend is buzzing and this can only help.

“I absolutely love Craig David, and we’ve actually had people book in that are coming to see him, it’s fantastic.

“If you get one giant name then the others tend to follow. So I hope this will be the start of lots of big names coming to the town.

“We’ve got some fabulous shows at the Cliffs as well and The Southend Arts Festival also starts this weekend, running for 17 days.

“Russell Kane, who is the festival’s patron, has agreed to do a show and there is tonnes going on – the town is once again bustling.

“All of it helps to extend the tourism season and will be a big boost.”

The Southend Arts Festival, set to start this Friday, will see comedy, art, street performance, music, theatre, literature, spoken word and much more take place across the borough.

The festival also incorporates the hugely popular Southend Film Festival, as well as Garden Gatherings, hosted by Leigh Folk Festival.

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Mum Carolyne Goodall, from Leigh, also hopes Mr David’s arrival will help give the area a well-needed boost after the blow of Covid-19.

The 52-year-old, said: “This is definitely a positive, it should give the borough a bit of a lift after such a hard year.

“Everyone has had such a horrible time with nothing to look forward to, so its nice to be able to do things like this again.

“Where he is a big artist it does draw attention to the area and it’s great to see a bit more normality.

“It’s really nice to see the place buzzing again, it does make you realise how much you take doing normal things for granted.”

Delighted, Paul Thompson, owner of Southend’s Pebbles One cafe, added: “The show should be really good, it’s great to see traction like this in the town.

“Craig David is obviously a big name in music, which will draw people into Southend.

“Post Covid it’ll also be really good to get back to some sort of normality again.

“All these things help put Southend on the map, and so the more big names we have the better.”