Ticketless fans who want to see the action at this weekend’s Shrewsbury Folk Festival are being urged not to travel to the event’s venue – but to watch online instead.

All 6,000 tickets for the event at the West Mid Showground have now been sold with people planning to travel to the four-day bonanza from across the UK.

Today folk festival spokeswoman Jo Cunningham said the event, which starts on Friday, had been inundated with inquires from people who still wanted to get there.

She said there were fears that a large number of people would turn up during the event, in the hope that they could get in.

Mrs Cunningham said: “We would urge people not to turn up to the festival without tickets – they can still see the live action, by watching online.

“We’ve had lots of people phoning up now tickets are sold out and there will be loads more who think they can just turn up on the day.

“We don’t want them to be disappointed but if they turn up without a ticket they will be.

“There’s lots going on in town as well, with sessions at the Britannia, The Bird in Hand and the Wheatsheaf, as well as dance displays in the Square and the top of Pride Hill – so they can still get a taste of what’s going on.”

Mrs Cunningham added that the event was likely to be one of the biggest and best ever and a stellar cast of musicians was set to thrill a capacity crowd.

She said among those appearing this year were The Proclaimers, Eric Bibb, Seth Lakeman, The Dhol Foundation, Show of Hands, Chris Wood, Megson, Karine Polwart and players from the Darwin Song Project like Mark Erelli, Krista Detor, Emily Smith and Jez Lowe.

Fans of the festival can also enjoy online coverage at www.shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk and music will be broadcast live on the site throughout the weekend. The event will also have blogs and Twitter links.

The festival is one of the biggest events of its kind in the UK and has grown in recent times.

It was formerly held in Bridgnorth for smaller audiences before relocating to Shrewsbury. It was held successfully in the town’s Quarry during its first year in the town but that gig sold out and organisers Alan and Sandra Surtees decided to find a bigger venue.

They settled on the West Mid Showground because they can fit more people into the area.