Mourning metal fans' Ozzy festival tribute

About 20,000 attend the festival each year

The first large-scale gathering of metal fans since the funeral of Ozzy Osbourne is taking place on farmland on the Derbyshire/Staffordshire border.

The Bloodstock festival at Catton Hall, Walton-on-Trent, runs from Thursday to Sunday and attracts about 20,000 people each year.

This year's four-day event is paying tribute to Ozzy with a 17m (55.7ft) banner by the main stage where fans can leave messages of condolence.

Festival director Vicky Hungerford said metal fans were all in mourning, adding: "We want people to show respect, leave their messages. It's hit the metal community incredibly hard."

She said a number of tributes to the Birmingham metal legend had been planned over the course of the festival.

A customised Black Sabbath motorbike will be on display, as well as Black Sabbath-themed artwork.

"Ozzy was one of us, the founding father of heavy metal," she said. "Without Ozzy, without Lemmy, you wouldn't have the bands of today."

Fans have flocked to write their own messages on the banner in dedication to the Black Sabbath frontman.

One said: "Thank you Ozzy for helping to create the religion that is heavy metal. We miss you!"

People wrote tributes to Ozzy Osbourne on the dedicated banner by the main stage

Tributes thanked Ozzy Osbourne for helping to create heavy metal

A bust containing former Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister's ashes and a portrait of the singer will also be there for fans to see.

The Burslem-born singer was "integral" to Bloodstock, the director said. "The ashes and the bust will be there every single year... He'll always be there, overseeing the festival."

The event boasts a total of 120 acts across four stages, with the main stage headlined by Trivium, Machine Head, and Gojira on successive nights.

Fairground rides, competitive food challenges and organised bin-jousting, where rivals clinging to large wheelie bins lids are hurled toward one another by supporters, will also provide additional light relief.

Tens of thousands of people travelled to Birmingham last month to see Ozzy's funeral cortege

Lemmy Kilmister, the lead singer of Motorhead who died in 2015, is "integral" to the festival

Ms Hungerford added environmental initiatives were once again at the heart of the festival, with a cup recycling scheme and music-lovers urged to pick up litter.