Sutton Coldfield Festival of Arts

• Venue: Main Stage

Fresh from collecting his MBE from the Queen for services to Punjabi music, Streetly bhangra superstar Malkit Singh has agreed to play a 45-minute set for the Festival, at 2.15pm on Saturday July 12. See “Main Stage” for the full line-up.

The singer, who also plays the harmonium and the traditional, one-stringed tumbi, has made 21 albums in 21 years and has toured 36 countries.

Jalandhar-born Malkit, a BA Music graduate from Khalasa College, was listed in the 2000 Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest-selling bhangra artist of all time.

“I’m the first Asian musician to receive an MBE - it’s a very big honour for Indian music,” he said.

“I must have been nominated by fans - I don’t know who did it. It was a big surprise to me when I receive a letter from Downing Street about the nomination, and we didn’t know which list I would be included in.

“We were asleep on December 31 when somebody called from the English press at 9am to congratulate me, saying I was included in the New Year’s Honours. That was the first I knew about when I would be receiving it.”

Malkit is busy recording his next, as-yet-untitled album which will have ten songs and be released in August.

He will perform in Trafalgar Square on June 23 in a concert set up by Cherie Blair for the Loomba Trust, a UK-based charity committed to educating at least 100 children in each of India’s 29 states.

Visit www.malkitsingh.com for more information. For bookings, e-mail malkit@malkitsingh.com