THOUSANDS of people flocked to Basingstoke’s War Memorial Park yesterday to enjoy the first day of this year’s Basingstoke Live.

Despite the sweltering heat during the day, Basingstoke residents and visitors to the event turned out to show their appreciation of local talent and to enjoy to the climax to the 2014 Basingstoke Festival.

The Main stage headline act on Saturday – rap duo Krept and Konan – drew in thousands of screaming fans at 10pm as they belted out some of their biggest hits including, I Play Dirty, Don’t Waste My Time and My Story.

Krept, whose real name is Casyo Johnson, told The Gazette before their set: “I have been getting loads of tweets for about a month so I am really looking forward to going out there and having some fun.”

Rapper Sneakbo warmed up the growing crowds at the Main stage before Krept and Konan appeared for their set and it was clear to see that he loved every minute of his performance.

After his set, which included his songs Touch a Button, The Wave and Ring a Ling, he told The Gazette: “Basingstoke is lovely, I have got to come back here because I enjoyed it so much.”

Dan Robert from Quilter Road, in Brighton Hill was just one of the screaming fans that was blown away by Krept and Konan’s performance on Saturday night.

He said: “It was one of the best performances I have seen recently.”

Thousands of people are expected to return to the War Memorial Park this afternoon for the finale of Basingstoke Live 2014.

Acts that are due on to perform on the Main stage today, including Basingstoke R&B singer Natasha Watts and Sunday’s headline act, 1970’s soul act – The Real Thing.

Follow live updates from the final day of Basingstoke Live on The Gazette website from 1pm today.

Full coverage of the two-day event will also be in The Gazette, on sale from Thursday.