Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, UB40 and Bermuda's own Collie Buddz are a few of the stars who will headline with 13th Annual Bermuda Music Festival.

Premier and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown announced the line-up yesterday saying he believed employers would find it difficult to get any productivity out of their staff due to the calibre of the performers.

He said: "Today, I am truly excited to announce the talent for the 13th Annual Bermuda Music Festival, to be held October 1 to October 4. Ladies and gentlemen, the international talent line up this year is outstanding, there's no other way to describe it.

"In fact, I predict that this event will be so big, so awesome and so popular across so many sectors of our community, employers will find it very difficult to get productivity out of their employees for these four days in October. This one will be a blockbuster."

The festival, taking place from October 1 to October 4, will see R&B legends The Whispers perform the opening night at the Fairmont Southampton Beach Club.

The second night will take place at the National Sports Centre with soul singer Lyfe Jennings followed by Solange Knowles. Headlining Thursday night is Ms Knowles' big sister, international superstar, Beyoncé.

Friday night is dedicated to the reggae lovers with well-known UK reggae band, UB40 taking the stage. And confirmed less than 24 hours ago, Bermuda's reggae superstar Collie Buddz will follow.

The final night will see, straight out of New Orleans, Aaron Neville, opening up for the event headliner, 11-time Grammy-award winning artist, Alicia Keys.

The three men coordinating the event, Shane Mora, events manager at the Department of Tourism and the festival's producers, Rock Newman of Gibraltar Promotions and on the local end, David Durham of Yoshi Productions, were all at the unveiling of the line-up yesterday.

Dr. Brown thanked Mr. Mora, Mr. Newman and Mr. Durham for their hard work in securing what he called "this year's crème de la crème of artists".

He said: "Tremendous thanks to these gentlemen and their hard-working teams for pulling out all the stops to ensure that this festival received the best talent available."

Comedian Steve Harvey will also return for the third year in a row to host the Bermuda Music Festival.

• See the Lifestyle section for more on the festival.

Tickets for the 13th Annual Bermuda Music Festival went on sale today at 6 a.m. exclusively for residents of Bermuda

They will be available for the early birds only on the internet by logging onto www.bermudatourism.com/presell.

Tomorrow, tickets will be available to everyone all over the world on the internet at www.bermudamusicfestival.com.

Ticket locations for locals include the Fairmont Hamilton Princess, Fairmont Southampton and Cafe Latte in St. George's.

They will also be available to purchase by phone during normal business hours at 1 888 909 8881.

For opening night at the Fairmont Southampton Beach Club, tickets are $60 for general admission.

The final three nights at the National Sports Centre, gold seating is $125, silver seating $100 and bronze seating $75.

There will be no general admission tickets for the festival at the National Sports Centre.

Packages are available for the festival including three-night packages and the Viva Las Vegas VIP package. For more information visit www.bermudamusicfestival.com.