Bradford International Festival is to provide a homecoming stage for one of the city's favourite musical sons - New Model Army leader Justin Sullivan.

Justin will be playing a gig at the Mela celebrations on Peel Park which form the culmination of this year's festival, to run from July 12 to 22 and to include arts and music events across Bradford.

The singer-songwriter has lived in the city for 27 years and counts himself as an honorary Bradfordian. He said: "I think I'm just about becoming accepted now!"

He takes the stage on Sunday, June 22, with two members of rockers New Model Army, Michael Dean and Dean White, who have accompanied him on a three-month tour to showcase material from his solo album Navigating By The Stars.

Justin, speaking from Limerick in Ireland, where he was preparing for the final night of the tour, said: "Over three months we've covered 20 countries and 12,000 miles.

"There are a lot of people who think Europe is small - they should get over to the mainland and see for themselves."

For the next week until the festival starts, Justin and his crew are taking a break before the summer outdoor festival season starts, for which Bradford will be a good warm-up.

He said: "We're supporting the Stereophonics (who played to a sell-out show in Bradford last week) in Amsterdam and then we're doing a massive free festival near Cologne.

"We've always had a really good following outside of Britain. In fact, a lot of Bradford bands find that they have more fans abroad than they do at home. There's something about Bradford musicians that appeals to an international fan-base yet doesn't get the bands the attention they deserve from the British media.

"I think it's because historically many people have felt nothing much happens in Bradford so they've had to make their own entertainment. From this has come a great deal of creativity from Bradford people."

And there's no greater example of the creativity of Bradford folk than the Festival, which features hundreds of acts and performers.

Justin himself is a big Festival fan. "I always enjoy the mela, which is where we're playing this year. I think it's right for Bradford that the city's main festival is built around the mela and that it's one of the biggest melas in the country. There is a lot of talent on display throughout the festival.

"It just goes to show that no matter how much knocking Bradford gets, there's a lot going for it."

New Model Army have been a major force in the music scene since the early 1980s, when Justin went under the name Slade the Leveller. Often a dark, highly political band with hits like No Rest, Here Comes The War and Stupid Questions, they were once famously banned from America when immigration officials decided they had "no artistic merit".

But they have consistently shouted down the naysayers with a ferociously loyal fan-base and critical acclaim.