THE Great Yorkshire Fringe is adding the York Barbican as a new location for the 2017 festival, already signing up German comedian Henning Wehn and American singer Curtis Stigers to head the summer line-up.

They will be joined by tribute shows celebrating the music of Burt Bacharach, Abba, Queen the Eighties and Fifties' rock'n'roll at the 1,500-seat concert hall in July and August.

Martin Witts, festival director, York resident and London theatre and comedy impresario, says: “We're delighted to add the York Barbican as a venue for 2017, our third year. This is especially great news for fans of Henning Wehn, who sold out his festival shows both in 2015 and 2016 and left many fans disappointed when they couldn’t get tickets."

Curtis Stigers and the Ronnie Scott’s Big Band will perform Sinatra At The Sands on July 28 at 7.30pm, when the 51-year-old jazz vocalist, saxophonist and guitarist, from Boise, Idaho, will join forces with the jazz orchestra to present his renditions of many Sinatra classics.

Stigers, whose recording career stretches to 23 years, released One More For The Road as his latest album in January on the Concord label. Singing with the swinging musicians of the Danish Radio Big Band, he brought together old-school pop and big band jazz in his version of the Frank Sinatra/Count Basie Orchestra marriage that originated 50 years ago at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and resulted in Sinatra At The Sands.

Festival favourite Henning Wehn, the German Comedy Ambassador, will present Westphalia Is Not An Option on July 29 in an evening of Teutonic jolliness at 7.30pm. After tackling the British obsession with home ownership and the self-serving nature of most fundraising efforts in his previous show, this time Benn will take an unbiased look at immigration.

In addition, he will ponder whether, generally speaking, people are competent. "Luckily in my case this doesn’t matter as either I'm funny or I live up to a national stereotype," says Wehn. "It’s a win-win situation."

On July 22, Back To Bacharach will re-create the music of Burt Bacharach with a company of "some of the finest West End vocalists" and the Magic Moments Orchestra, performing such favourites as Anyone Who Had A Heart, Always Something There To Remind Me, Close To You, I Say A Little Prayer For You, Magic Moments, Walk On By and Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.

Tickets will go on sale soon for Abba Reunion, July 21; Magic Of Queen, August 3; Twist And Shout, August 4, and 80s Mania, August 5, as the Great Yorkshire Fringe returns for a third summer from July to August 6.

The festival of music, cabaret, magic and theatre will be centred once more on the Parliament Street temporary village green, and among the returnees will be magicians Morgan and West, comedian Paul Foot, the Baby Loves Disco daytime dance party for parents with babies, toddlers and young children, and Showstoppers! The Improvised Musical.

New for 2017 will be ordinary housewife extraordinaire Mrs Barbara Nice; anarchist comedy cook George Egg and Belgian comic Lieven Scheire.

Tickets can be booked online at greatyorkshirefringe.com, where new shows are being added to the programme every week.