Starlite Occident gets under way with Niña Pastori and Lenny Kravitz

The Starlite Occident music festival in Marbella kicks off this weekend in the Cantera de Nagüeles quarry, a cycle of 49 concerts that continues to 29 August.

The popular summer event is celebrating its 15th year and it has established itself as one of the longest-running festivals, with a programme that includes options for all audiences, ages and musical tastes.

This year the festival offers a variety of rock, pop, contemporary and alternative music concerts. The line-up includes some of Spain's top artists, such as Niña Pastori (27 June/21 August), a flamenco/pop singer influenced by the Cadiz flamenco tradition; Rosana Arbelo (31 July), best known for a blend of Latin pop, folk and rock; Miguel Rios (25 July), widely regarded as one of the pioneers of rock and roll in Spain; and Rosario (1 August), one of the leading artists of Spain's 'new flamenco' movement, which modernised the genre by mixing it with contemporary popular music.

This year's international artists include Lenny Kravitz (29 June), the American rocker whose hits include Are You Gonna Go My Way, It Ain't Over Til It's Over and American Woman; Alan Parsons (30 June), the English producer, songwriter and musician best known for co-founding The Alan Parsons Project in the 1970s; Deep Purple (9 July), one of the most important bands in rock history, famed for rock anthems such as Smoke on the Water, Black Night and Child in Time; and Kool and the Gang, the American soul band known for chart-topping hits like Cherish, Celebration, Ladies Night and Get Down on It.

Others include Rick Astley (10 July), whose chart-topping hits include Never Gonna Give You Up and Together Forever; The Gipsy Kings (3 July), who globalised rumba and flamenco music; Canadian jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall (21 July); and American singer, songwriter and pianist John Legend (20 July), among others.