THE countdown is on for the second annual Mannifest event.

The festival will take place on August 6, 7 and 8 at Glen Lough farm, just outside of Union Mills.

Countless acts have been announced for the extravaganza and one of the many highlights will be Alabama 3.

Fresh from a support slot with Bob Dylan and headline slots at Glastonbury and several European festivals, the band will be playing an Unplugged acoustic show.

The band, whose music has featured in TV show The Sopranos and film Gone in 60 Seconds, have eeked out a reputation for hard working and hard playing.

They will bring a delicious flavour of delta-blues hedonism with a sound that enviably makes them very hard to pigeonhole.

They blend techno, acid house and country in a unique way and their songs include Hello I'm Johnny Cash, The Devil Went Down to Ibiza and Woke up this Morning.

Alabama 3 will top the bill for the Sunday of Mannifest that also sees The Very Very Bad Men,The Moon Band (UK) Anna Goldsmith, Truman Falls and Felix Ngindu on the bill.

Stage times and all confirmed acts will be posted very shortly at the official Mannifest site www.mannifestlive.com and at Triskel Promotions site www.triskelpromo.com

Music fans are being advised to get their tickets as soon as possible as the excitement builds for the event.

For ticket outlets see www.mannifestlive.com/ticketinfo.html