X Factor finalist Luke Friend will be a prime time Saturday evening treat once again this weekend.

Friendlies, as Luke’s fans were dubbed, will be queuing all day for a place in front of the main stage at the Dartford Festival at Central Park on Saturday, July 19, well ahead of Luke’s 30-minute slot from 5.40pm to 6.10pm.

The 18-year-old is bound to be one of the most popular acts of the two-day festival which also boasts Scouting for Girls on Sunday’s line-up.

The Gravesham Riverside Festival in next-door Gravesend also goes ahead on Saturday, July 19. It boasts top tribute acts to Queen, Olly Murs, The Commitments, and also Indian musician and record producer Angrej Ali. Gravesham’s one-day festival will be held on the Promenade.

Kent has done well for visits from X Factor favourites recently – Luke Friend's appearance in Gravesend follows hot on the heels of winner Sam Bailey, who pipped him to the top spot in the 2013 final and appears at Rochester Castle Concerts tonight (Thursday, July 17).

And Luke won’t be the only reality TV star to feature in the Dartford Festival line-up – former Liberty X band member Michelle Heaton, who shot to fame in Popstars in 2001, will warm up the stage for Luke, as will young Britain’s Got Talent singer James Smith.

On Sunday, Dartford will welcome the boy band Scouting for Girls and, to end off the weekend, ska band The Beat, whose hits included Can’t Get Used to Losing You in 1983.

Gravesham’s festival will host the Gravesend Rock Choir, featuring dozens of local people bringing the community together, and will reflect the diversity of the town with Asian music from Indian star Angrej Ali featuring guest artists Sunny Hayre and Nick Sahota.

Top tribute act Killer Queen – which wowed the Tonbridge Festival crowd last year – will close the day’s celebrations in Gravesend.

Both town festivals are free. For more information on programme times visit www.dartford.gov.uk and www.gravesham.gov.uk