A three-day festival is being organised by Sky Television this summer in order to promote its channels, and one of the highlights will be a parade by A1 Grand Prix cars.

The Sky Festival, which will run between August 11 and 13, will feature various 'tie-in events' to promote 25 channels available to Sky Digital customers, including Sky Sports, Sky Movies, MTV and Artsworld.

In addition to the A1 GP parade, there will be Pimp My Ride show with Tim Westwood, comedy workshops, free film screenings, an opportunity to sing with the English National Opera, a Tour de Manchester cycle race and a beach cafe.

Launching the initiative, Sky Networks managing director Dawn Airy said: "We have festivals for books, films, art and dance. Why not television? Television is the number one leisure pursuit, yet we're not supposed to enjoy it or encouraged to enjoy it. I watch 30 hours of telly a week.

"Normally television festivals are industry only but the Sky Festival is free and open to everyone including executives from other media organisations," she added. "There's no exclusion zone."

It's not known which A1 GP teams will be present.

Ironically, it is the cost of A1 GP on Sky Sports which has restricted viewing numbers in the UK, and it is unlikely that a street parade will be enough to persuade newcomers to part with their cash. If A1 is to succeed in the UK, there has to be some sort of 'free to air' coverage available, even if it is only recorded highlights. However, Pitpass understands that this is not possible under the terms of the existing contract.