Walthamstow’s annual music festival returns in September for four days of performances across E17.

Now in its fourth year, Stow Festival 2014 promises to be the biggest and best event yet. Running over four days, this year’s festival will present a diverse and varied programme of musical entertainment in more than 20 of the borough’s most popular and unusual venues including Ye Olde Rose & Crown, the William Morris Gallery, the Warrant Officer and Waltham Forest Library.

Comedy legend Barry Cryer will provide a unique and hilarious start to the festival. Other headliners include the maverick figure of John Otway, who will be joined by local favourites Steve White and the Protest Family, while The November Five and Thee Faction join forces with Northern Soul night Walls of Heartache for a floor-filling Saturday night rock’n’soul revue.

Walthamstow Acoustic Massive presents a special collaborative concert in the town square, which will feature performances from Kuumba Youth Music, Grand Union Youth Orchestra and the London Community Gospel Choir, among many others.

Vestry House Museum will host Remembrance: Tales from the Trenches, a musical tribute to the fallen of the Great War. Elsewhere, the William Morris Gallery hosts electro collective Innoversions for an evening of video projections and electronic music. Fans of classical music will delight in the London Forest Choir’s performance at St Mary’s Church. The Walthamstow Folk Club will be hosting a night, and jazz aficionados will be well served too.

Simon Parkes, author of The Brixton Academy: A Riotous Life in the Music Business will be interviewed by the Observer’s Luke Bainbridge in Waterstones, and the Warrant Officer is set to include a weekend of music including the popular Graham Larkbey & the Escape Committee and country singer Bob Collum & The Welfare Mothers.

Emma Betts, co-chair of Stow Festival, says: “This year’s Stow Festival will be the biggest and most varied programme we have ever put on. We have something for everyone, from classical, to electro beats, to rock, jazz, country, and everything in between. There will be live music in more than 20 venues across E17, and it will be a thoroughly enjoyable four days.”

l Stow Festival takes place at various venues across Walthamstow from Thursday, September 11 to Sunday, September 14. Details: stowfestival.com