Geldof plans new Live Aid concert for Africa

Sir Bob Geldof is planning to stage a new Live Aid concert this summer to coincide with Britain hosting the G8 summit of world leaders, it was confirmed yesterday.

Sir Bob Geldof is planning to stage a new Live Aid concert this summer to coincide with Britain hosting the G8 summit of world leaders, it was confirmed yesterday.

The event, to be called Live 8, will take place in July, with the venue expected to be London's Hyde Park.

The gig would come on the 20th anniversary of the first Live Aid concert, and follows the success of the recent Band Aid single, which took the prized Christmas number one slot and raised an estimated £15m for aid charities in Africa.

A number of A-list artists and groups are already hotly tipped to be taking part in the new concert, including Coldplay, U2, Madonna and Robbie Williams.

The most likely dates for the event are the weekend of 2-3 July, just three days before the G8 summit in Perthshire, Scotland.

Unlike the original Live Aid, which was held at Wembley and featured performers such as Queen, Paul McCartney,David Bowie and Phil Collins, it is understood that the new event will not be geared towards attracting public donations. Instead, the concert, which is expected to be free, will be held solely to urge world leaders attending the conference to take action on Aids and tuberculosis in Africa.

Plans for the event have forced London radio station Capital FM to cancel its annual Party in the Park, held in Hyde Park in support of the Prince's Trust. Capital FM and the Princes Trust are both supporting the proposed event.

Capital FM managing director Keith Pringle said the station would instead support Live 8 for "the greater good". And Martina Milburn, chief executive of the Prince's Trust said: "The Prince's Trust are delighted to support Live 8 and we look forward to Party in the Park next year."