Shrewsbury's Big Busk is making more music for tragic Ben

But even as they struggled to come to terms with what happened, made all the more difficult because of long and anxious waits for both Ben's funeral and the trial of his killers, the kernel of an idea began to develop – a celebration of his life through his greatest love: Music.

And so, adopting what was essentially Ben's catchphrase: "Happy days", the Big Busk was born. Dozens of performers took to the streets of Shrewsbury on April 6 – what would have been the talented musician, poet and artist's 44th birthday.

It was only ever meant to be a one-off. But even before the day was over, musicians and the public alike were asking the organisers to do it again.

Which is why on Saturday, come rain or shine, the streets will once again be alive with the sound of music.

And for one of Ben's sisters, the event will have added poignancy - it will finally be her chance to say goodbye.

Michelle Rigby, 50, lives and works in Saudi Arabia and, for various reasons, was unable to get back to the UK for either her brother's funeral or last year's Big Busk.

Another of Ben's sisters Karen Higgins, one of the Busk's main organisers, said: "The nice thing is Michelle has been able to come back this year.

"Michelle is Ben's older sister. She struggled with it the most I think. Because she wasn't able to get back for the funeral, this is her goodbye.

"We only ever expected this to be a one-year event, but after the success of last year we decided to do it again.

"The danger is that you start to lose the purpose behind it."

That purpose was to remember the life of Ben and to raise awareness of the Ark – a refuge for vulnerable people which helped Ben during some of the most difficult times in his life.

Karen, 42, said: "It was such a waste because he was such an amazing talent. He was very intelligent, but something happened to him when he was about 15 or16. He probably battled depression most of his life.

"It got to the point where over the years contact with the family got less and less."

Ben's youngest sister Annie, 32, added: "He was a daydreamer. It's almost as if he spent too much time thinking and had too much hope."

It was while the family were all together in the days following Ben's death that the idea of the busk first came up.

Karen said: "In the first two weeks after Ben died we started talking about what we were going to do. We wanted to do something to celebrate everything positive about him.

"Ben was an incredible musician and he taught lots of people to play the guitar. Some of them, like Andy O'Brien, are playing on Saturday.

"The whole idea drifted away and we had to wait for the funeral. But after that was out of the way the idea came up again.

"From there we got Tim Compton at the Ark involved.

"It was something to get us through the stage of waiting for the funeral and waiting for the court case. We wanted to do something positive and to raise awareness of the Ark.

"It did all of those things and then some.

"During the day one of the paramedics who attended to Ben came to see me to tell me he had done all he could for Ben. He had been carrying that around with him.

"The event has come out of something grim but we got through last year."

The event took off beyond the family's expectations. Through social media they recruited an army of volunteers including Juliet Young, whose background in performing arts and event management proved "invaluable".

"It wouldn't have happened without Juliet," said Karen.

They also recruited Karen Paterson, who used her business background to work with businesses in the town – more of whom have got involved this year.

Karen said: "Last year we had a schedule of volunteers through the day for two hours at a time, but on the day more and more people kept coming forward. We ran out of buckets.

"And some of those people we didn't see all day. They were enjoying it so much they kept going past their two hours and into the evening."

This year the event will be twice as big with about 80 acts – 400 individuals – taking part. And this year it is not just musicians, with street dancers, yoga instructors, poets and storytellers taking part.