Fictional worlds aside, Northampton's eight-member Wootton and East Hunsbury Parish Council has landed a big name to play at its forthcoming community arts festival.

And this big name is no less than the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO).

As well as having lined up a string of future concerts at London's famous Royal Albert Hall, RPO managers have also agreed to play at the Wootton Village park in Curtlee Hill Road, Northampton, on July 6.

The orchestra, which holds a regular regional residency at the town's Royal and Derngate Theatre, will be kickstarting the community's Walk in the Park Festival which runs on both Friday, July 6 and Saturday, July 7.

Event organiser and parish councillor Kevin O'Keefe said one challenge has been to convince the public that the RPO is actually going to play in Wootton

He said: "One reaction has been disbelief.

Some people still think it is an RPO tribute band, as on July 7 we have got a British rock tribute bands such as Pink Floyd.

"But this is the real, full RPO."

Assistant parish clerk Kate Houlihan said: "I thought it was fantastic.

An awful lot of planning and work has gone into this.

More people actually believe the RPO is coming now – they took some convincing to start with."

Councillor O'Keefe, who works as a police constable, said the idea of asking the RPO to perform stemmed from the fact that last year the equipment for the Saturday festival had been up and ready on Friday night.

So this led to the idea of a Friday evening concert.

He commented: "We have got all of that equipment in place on Friday evening so we might as well use it. Then I thought, what will we put on? We have all sorts of dance going on, rock bands and singers but we wanted something on the Friday which would be different so we went down the line of it being classical.

The Last Night of the Proms is always a pretty popular event and people from all around the world attend.

"So we set about finding an orchestra and I thought, why not start at the top, go for the best and keep trying?"

To the organisers' joy, the RPO agreed to headline the festival.

Councillor O'Keefe said: "For us this is a huge coup and we really set ourselves a challenge."

The community hosted a one-day Walk in the Park festival last year but, now in its second year, this event promises to be bigger and better.

Now extended to two days, the parish council has been working since October to put the festival together and several members of the community have come on board to do everything from posting fliers to organising trade stands.

Councillor O'Keefe said: "Wootton is still a village but we are a parish, which is a community in its own right.

The idea is to bring these together.

"It is a case of bring these people together to show we are a community and this is what we are doing, that was the thinking behind it.

"Wootton and East Hunsbury are saying this is who we are and this is what we do.

"We are a very professional parish council doing a lot of work in a modern community."

It is hoped that up to 5,000 people will arrive at the park during the two days to watch the action taking place on the 60ft wide stage.

Organisers hope enough tickets will be sold to, not only make back the £23,500 spent on putting the event together, but also to raise cash for Breast Cancer Care.

There will be 10 hours of entertainment in the park on July 7, including performances by Beatles tribute band Accrington Stanley as well as dance and singing displays by pupils from local schools.

But there will also be a busking tent where anyone who wants to can go to perform.

Organisers are also looking for cannons with which they will be able to shoot out pink ribbons above the audience.

Local schools taking part will include Mereway Community College, Caroline Chisholm, Wootton Primary, Preston Hedges Primary and Northampton High School.

Councillor O'Keefe said there would be students from Mereway helping to support the technical side of running the concert, for example by operating the spotlights.

He said: "Although the rock bands in the evening will be fantastic, really the highlights will be the schools.

Wootton Primary School last year opened the show and this year they are doing Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which is very topical at the moment.

If people want to know where Joseph is, he is at Wootton Primary School.

"The great thing is giving people the opportunity to perform on a stage on which they would not normally have a chance to perform.

"On the Friday evening Northampton High School's string quartet will be warming up for the RPO."

Liam Costello, clerk at the parish council, said: "The sense of pride is incredible.

To have such a prestigious and breathtaking event on our doorsteps is good news for everyone all over the region."

Speaking about the concert he continued: "With lots of Grand Prix fans staying in the county that weekend this concert is being promoted as a fitting prelude to Silverstone's Grand Prix weekend, although you don't need to be going to the Grand Prix to love this concert.

"Thousands of families, friends and colleagues from across the region will be coming with their bubbly and strawberries, picnics, tables and chairs.

"Whether you don jeans and jumpers or ballgowns and black tie, this will be a night to remember."