Helstonbury 2018 has fully kicked off for another year of celebrating the best musical talent in the local area.

The Helston musical festival has returning to the Blue Anchor for an 18th year. 

Last night saw the Helstonbury Introducing Stage showcasing some of the newest talent around, along with the Helston Music Foundation Stage.

Set up and run for many years by join festival organiser Al Rideout, who sadly died from cancer last month, this year Holly Turton and Andrew 'Scooby' Plenty have taken over the managing of these stages.

This year’s festival is dedicated to remembering those lost over the last 12 months, including Al, venue owner Simon Stone's son Henry and musician Dave Sugarbeet.

Music gets underway today from 12.15pm on the Special Stage in the outer beer garden, with the Acoustic Stage in the covered beer garden opening at 1pm.

There will be four stages running over the course of the day, with the new Helstonbury Introduced Stage at the front of the pub, shining a spotlight on the graduates of Al's Kids Like to Rock Stage who are not yet on the main stages, getting underway at 1.30pm and the Cannon Stage in the skittle alley gearing up for music from 3pm.

The evening will finish with a silent disco by DJ Aldog and friends in the lower beer garden from 11pm.

For the full Saturday line-up see below.

Falmouth Packet:

The festival ends tomorrow, with Helstonbury Sunday featuring another full day of events and activities.

It starts sedately at 11am with the Sunday Service and Military Wives Choir, but then ramps up the energy with Shabby Chic at 1pm.

The knees up then continues throughout the afternoon and evening with help from bands like GoGo Skank, The Roustabouts, Stone Roots, Snake Oil and The Olives before rounding the night off with the popular 'silent disco'.

Falmouth Packet:

Tickets for all days can only be purchased on the door, on a first come, first served basis.

A one day ticket costs £10, a weekend ticket covering Friday, Saturday and Sunday costs £20.

For the first time in its history, this year’s festival opening with a Fringe event on Thursday – Helstonbury does Jazz, with Helston School Jazz Orchestra.

Now in its 18th year and evolved into one of the biggest music festivals in Cornwall, raising £75,000 to date for good causes, organisers have promised that while bittersweet, Helstonbury 2018 will "rock the Blue Anchor pub in Helston like it's never been rocked before."