A MUSIC festival at a Dorset beauty spot will attempt to unite local people and asylum seekers.

Let Music Unite is a free-to-attend music festival coming to Chesil Cove, Portland, on Saturday, September 16 from 12pm to 7pm.

The event is hoping to build bridges between the local community and the refugees that were being housed on the Bibby Stockholm Barge.

The event will be part of the Portland Fringe Festival, dedicated to celebrating creativity and the limestone Isle.

A member of Portland Global Friendship Group in charge of organising Let Music Unite said: "As a local resident I wanted to create a positive event for the community on our beautiful island.

"It's been an incredibly divided community recently, which as a local resident has been difficult to observe.

"This event is about bringing some positivity back to the island and bringing people together."

Let Music Unite will host a variety of musicians and DJs both local and refugees who are now residents of the UK, playing music from around the world including Kurdish singer Mustafa Mamu and the unique Romanian Gypsy band Ochi de Mort.

Mustafa Mamu, said: "I am from the Afrin region of Syria. My area is occupied by the Turkish regime and the Syrian armed factions. I  love singing very much, I'm looking  forward to participating in the event."

Rocca Holly-Nambi, director of B-side, which is organising the Portland Fringe festival, said: "B-side is delighted to support Let Music Unite as part of our 2023 festival fringe program.

"We passionately believe in the power of arts, culture and particularly music- to bring people together and celebrate all of our stories of movement, migration, and belonging. With Chesil Beach as the backdrop and an exciting lineup of international acts, we can't wait to unite together, through music."

A spokesperson for Love Music, Hate Racism, who are supporting the event, said: "The asylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm are human beings and should be treated as such.

"These people are not our enemies but our extended family. We know full well that all people have more in common than they do different. Nothing demonstrates that more than the music we listen to.

"The people on the barge should be allowed to sing and dance with us. We say it loud, we say it clear 'Refugees are welcome here'."