WIRRAL singer/songwriter Eliza Mai will perform at Birkenhead's Future Yard festival after being crowned the winner of the New Noise Project.

Running in conjunction with the Hive Youth Zone, Future Yard created the project to discover and develop the next generation of Wirral bands, producers, MCs and music makers.

After a call for applications, some of the area's most promising artists aged 18 and under took part in a free showcase at Birkenhead's Bloom Building on July 23.

The showcase kickstarted a programme of development sessions and workshops designed to help a range of the borough's budding musicians get a head start on their careers.

Alongside Eliza’s booking at the festival - which takes place on 23 and 24 August - other emerging artists Lewis Ryan, Ludovico, Meg Cross, Michael Aldag and Just Violet have been invited to a series of workshops and an artist masterclass, as part of the festival’s wider initiative to kickstart a new music infrastructure in Birkenhead.

Eliza has also been offered a place on the next semester of Merseyrail Sound Station - an artist development programme designed by Merseyrail and local music magazine Bido Lito! to support Merseyside’s next generation of musicians.

A spokesman from Future Yard said: “We were massively impressed by the quality of the young musicians - but then we always knew there was a huge amount of talent in Wirral.

"Eliza Mai showed a really impressive, mature talent for songwriting, and we were really excited about giving her the opportunity to showcase it at Future Yard festival.

"She’s got a really bright future - and if Future Yard can encourage musicians in the area, like Eliza, to give their all to developing their natural talent for music, then that would be the best kind of legacy we could hope for.”

Part of Wirral's Borough of Culture year, Future Yard will take place across; Birkenhead Town Hall, Birkenhead Priory, Bloom Building and Gallagher's.

Headliners include Bill Ryder-Jones and Anna Calvi.

Other artists revealed include; Nilüfer Yanya, Stella Donnelly, Forest Swords Presents... Pylon, Queen Zee, Eyesore & The Jinx, Bill Nickson, Seatbelts, SPQR, Beija Flo, Lo Five, Wild Fruit Art Collective, Tori Cross, Munkey Junkey, Spilt and Uncle Jane.

In situ across both days will be PYLON; an exclusive new installation and sound sculpture from Wirral native Forest Swords in partnership with The Kazimier at Birkenhead Priory.

Day tickets are on sale for £20 (Friday) and £25 (Saturday) allowing access to venues throughout the day and headline shows in Birkenhead Town Hall along with Bloom and Gallagher's.

Weekend wristbands cost £40.

To get your tickets visit

http://futureyard.org/

Anyone interested in volunteering can email volunteer@futureyard.org with a brief description of why you would like to get involved plus any relevant experience - although experience is not essential.