A MASSIVE charity festival in Great Yarmouth is aiming to pull in the crowds with sporting events and five hours of live entertain-ment. Embrace, a festival combining sport and entertainment in aid of Palliative Care East, has gained support from popular groups Canine Feline and girl band EFX.

A MASSIVE charity festival in Great Yarmouth is aiming to pull in the crowds with sporting events and five hours of live entertain-ment.

Embrace, a festival combining sport and entertainment in aid of Palliative Care East, has gained support from popular groups Canine Feline and girl band EFX.

Among other performers the bands will provide five hours of entertainment during the event at Yarmouth Racecourse on August 9.

Spencer McCormack, director of BWell Health Clubs and one of the festival organisers, said: “We are very privileged to have these two very busy bands giving their time up to perform.”

Another feature of the money-spinning event is a three-mile fun run - aimed to get local people on the road to fitness while raising money for the James Paget appeal, which will see a dedicated palliative care centre built in the grounds of the hospital.

Plenty of other attractions have been lined up including displays from artists at the Hippodrome Circus in Yarmouth, the North Sea Rollers skating club, martial arts from Phoenix Karate Schools, Bohemians Youth Football Club and the Charisma Twirling Team. Comedians from the Red Card Comedy Club will also perform.

Tickets costing �3 will go on sale on May 1 while children under five go free and anyone who registers to take part in the fun will get free entrance.

Starting on April 30 at 6.30pm and on the last Thursday of each month until July, BWell instructors will be at Gorleston clifftop offering advice and support to wannabe participants who want to get fit. The free walking and jogging sessions will last an hour.

This week, Mr McCormack and Yarmouth College students Helen Lapping and Anna Crickmore, who are helping to organise the event, attended a rehearsal of Canine Feline and EFX to thank them for devoting their time free of charge.

The James Paget's hospital fete will also be held at the racecourse on that day. For stall inquiries email organiser Jill Jacobs jill.jacobs@rainbow-days.org

Forthcoming events in aid of palliative care include a craft fair at Haddiscoe Village Hall on Sunday from 10am-4pm, also in aid of the Mia Lucy Rose Trust; a sponsored dog walk at Gorleston clifftop on April 19; BBC Radio Norfolk's comedy quiz, Should the Team Think, Gorleston Pavilion April 24; and the Yarmouth Rotary Club's charity fun walk at Somerleyton on May 17.

For more information about Embrace call Mr McCormack at BWell on 01493 452095 or email gorleston@bodywellness.co.uk Or call appeal co-ordinator Jenny Westgate on 01493 453348. Register forms can be downloaded at www.embrace-east.org