Thousands of music lovers and scores of bands will be descending on Blenheim Palace tomorrow for the first day of a new-to-the-county music festival.

Wakestock, a three-day celebration of live music and adrenaline sport, will transform the grounds of the Woodstock World Heritage site.

The event has been set up by devotees of the sport of wakeboarding, an exhilarating watersport, similar to waterskiing, in which participants surf behind a boat at speeds of more than 20 mph.

The festival will host professional wakeboarding championships on the palace lake, with music starting at 2pm on each day.

Among those playing are Oxford bands Supergrass and Young Knives, dance act Groove Armada, Manchester dance-rock legends Happy Mondays, rapper The Streets, rockers Funeral for a Friend, indie-grime band Hadouken!, dance- rockers Pendulum, and DJs Norman Jay and Pete Tong.

The festival, which for the past eight years has been held in Abersoch in North Wales, is expected to be one of the county's biggest musical gatherings.

And, says Oxford music promoter Alan Day, it is here to stay.

Mr Day, who runs Cowley-based promoters TCT Music, is helping to promote the festival.

He is also a recent convert to wakeboarding, having already shown off his skills on the lake.

He said: "This is going to be an amazing weekend.

"It's the first time anything like this has happened in Oxfordshire - or, indeed, anywhere in England. And everyone has been taken aback by the quality of the bands who will be playing this weekend.

"There has been a lot of interest in the festival, and we hope people will come down and see what all the excitement is about. They can come for a day or stay for the weekend. And there can be no better place to put up a tent and camp!

"There is going to be an annual event and, there is no doubt about it, Wakestock will grow year on year to become one of the country's best-loved festivals."

Festival founder Mark Dur- ston, a keen wakeboarder himself, said: "This is the perfect spot for a festival.

"The grounds are fantastic, and it has a sheltered lake within a short distance of hundreds of acres of flat grass fields, where the music will be taking place.

"The Duke is well up for it. He likes the idea of this kind of thing going on on his land."

And who is he most looking forward to seeing? "Pendulum are going to be amazing," he said. "And they are the one band that people have been asking for. Everybody loves them."

Readers of the Oxford Mail and our website www.oxford mail.co.uk have priority booking for day, weekend and VIP tickets. Call 0115 9597908, or visit the website page oxfordmail.co.uk/whatson/wakestockfestival Tickets are still on sale, priced at £40 for day tickets, £85 for the weekend, or £110 for combined weekend and camping passes. Booking fees apply.