 LIVERPOOL'S biggest free music festival is to be held twice a year. A second Mathew Street festival will be staged in May, starting this year. The traditional August bank holiday Mathew Street festival will now concentrate on presenting tribute bands, while the extra schedule, from May 26 to 30, will specialise in promoting local bands. More than 120 singers and groups from 12 countries will also perform. Promoter Bill Heckle, whose company owns the Cavern Club, said: "Up to 30 local bands will be performing. "The dates are a direct response to criticism that local musicians have missed out in the past. We are now answering that need." American impresario David Bash, who is helping co-ordinate the international line- up said: "Liverpool is more special than anywhere in the world when it comes to popular music. "This is the place where bands from just about everywhere want most to perform. This is a great new venture." All events for the May weekend will be free. The privately funded launch of the programme is costing a modest £10,000 but Liverpool's Capital of Culture company has said it will monitor the new festival, with the possibility of helping it to grow into a major showcase for new music by 2008. The May events will be held indoors at the Cavern and other venues on Mathew Street. Bill Heckle said: "We hope the trend will be the same as it was for the original Mathew Steet festival, where audiences have consistently grown over the years. "Our target is for 20,000 visitors over five days." Beatles legacy worth £20m a year * The first Mathew Street festival was held in 1992. * It was launched as a last measure to rescue dwindling attendances at Liverpool's annual Beatles convention. * Liverpool's Beatles industry is currently worth more than £20m a year to the local economy. * From a start of 20,000, annual attendance at the August Mathew Street festival now regularly exceeds 300,000. | 
