WARRINGTON Music Festival will pay a special tribute to Viola Beach during the town's showcase of bands and artists.

A skytracker will be used to send a beam of light into the night sky in memory of the band before Conquer Rio's headline set on Saturday, May 28.

Viola Beach's biggest song, Swings and Waterslides, will also be played.

Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tom Lowe, Jack Dakin and their manager Craig Tarry tragically died in Sweden when their car plunged more than 82ft from a highway bridge on February 13.

Steve Oates, festival organiser, said: "Anyone who has been in a band understands the great friendship and camaraderie that develops following months and years together in rehearsal rooms, recording studios and live music venues.

"Writing songs that make people sing takes talent. Crafting and perfecting them together as a team takes dedication and commitment.

"Loading a van with equipment and sharing your art with people you don’t know in towns you’ve never heard of takes an amazing amount of energy and love.

"Propelled by the love of their families and friends, Kris, River, Tom, Jack and Craig showed the ambition and aspiration that we would all be very proud to see in our sons and daughters.

"How poignant that on February 14 – the day that billions of people celebrate love and friendship – we woke to hear the sad news about five boys from Warrington who had tried to conquer the world.

"Had I been able to reach Tom or Craig on the phone or Facebook over the past few weeks I would have been making arrangements for what, no doubt, would have been a triumphant home-town performance for Viola Beach on May 28.

"I can’t do that now. What I can do and what we can all do is help other musicians who have the same burning desire to share their music with the world.

"So, approximately 100 days after Valentines' Day, from noon on Saturday, May 28, the Old Market Place will host a celebration of new and emerging talent from Warrington and surrounding areas.

"At 10.30pm we’ll light a skytracker and send a single beam of light from Warrington town centre straight up to the night sky.

"It’s a beacon...a Viola beacon if you will and it needs people around it to sing and cheer and remember."

River Reeves' parents, Sharon and Ben Dunne, added: "River would have loved to have performed at the festival with his band mates and no doubt with a proud manager watching on.

"He can't do that now but he'll definitely be looking out for the Viola beacon and cheering the acts on.

"Play it loud for the boys and cheer in your thousands. They'll be dancing with you all."

Warrington Guardian:

Lewis Melia, bassist from Conquer Rio, said: "It has been such a sad time for such a lot of people.

"But on the flipside of that we’ve seen the best come out of our town in terms of the messages and tributes.

"The way Viola Beach's tune, Swings and Waterslides, was pushed into the charts was unreal. That’s the kind of thing where you sit back and think: ‘I love this town’.

"Even though it was such a tragic thing to happen I can see a lot of people being inspired by that and thinking: I want to be in a band.

"Because they showed everyone you can do it."

- A beacon will be lit to pay tribute to Viola Beach at 10.30pm on Saturday, May 28, accompanied with a play of the band's song, Swings and Waterslides.