Forestside already has a healthy busking scene on mall with several brilliant young performers regularly appearing but we absolutely love discovering new talent in young people so we have teamed up with the fantastic Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival to launch a young singer songwriter competition. It doesn't matter if you're used to playing covers or famous classics, providing you can write and perform your own material, Forestside wants to hear from you.

We are looking to find three singer/song writers who will each win a place at the 2016 Belnash Festival in March. We will give you the chance to showcase your talents prior to this with Open Mic sessions at Forestside every Saturday from 16th January until 20th February 2016, then we will pick the best three who will go on to take centre stage at Belnash.

But it doesn't end there. In addition to the huge Belnash exposure, we will be holding a concert at Forestside in April after the festival has finished and all our entries will get a chance to perform their songs. This concert will take place on mall and will play to a live audience on a Sunday evening after the stores have closed. All proceeds from this event will go to Forestside's nominated charity partner.

So if Ed Sheeran is your hero or you're more Jimi Hendrix we would love to hear from you. You can perform covers at the auditions in January but you need to be able to write and perform one song which is your true original.

For more information or if you'd like to get involved just email margaret@forestside.co.uk or 02890 494994.