A SINGER-songwriter has been boosted by positive feedback on her new single as she prepares for one of the biggest weekends of her blossoming career in music.

Zoe Unsworth, of Pownall Street, Leigh, will be performing at the annual lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Wigan Pride festival on Saturday and the Leigh Community 10k the following day.

Despite being just 18 years old, Zoe is no stranger to performing in big events, having sung at Old Trafford and the Etihad Stadium and supported acts such as The Lightning Seeds, Georgie Fame and Scouting for Girls.

And her confidence is high after gaining rave reviews for new single Wanna Be, which was released last Tuesday but will not be available to download on iTunes for two weeks.

Zoe said: "It is going to be a super busy weekend, appearing aside actor Ian McKellen on Saturday and The Lottery Winners on Sunday.

"I am looking forward to it."

She was delighted to be asked to perform at Sunday's fundraiser for Wigan and Leigh Hospice.

The town centre run starts at Leigh Town Hall at 9.30am and Zoe, who sung at the Leigh Carnival of Colour in June, is part of the musical entertainment from 10am to 3pm.

She said: "I really enjoyed my performance at the carnival and the crowd was brilliant.

"It is special performing in your home town."

Zoe is preparing to study professional musicianship at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute in Manchester from October and is set to release her debut album in December.

The former Bedford High School pupil, who finished in the top four in last year's Unsigned Music Awards out of thousands of entries, said: "I have written around 12 to 13 songs with four released into iTunes and streaming outlets.

"A lot of people have told me they like my new single Wanna Be, which is great to hear.

“I was unsure about it to start with because it is quite different from the type of music I have made before.

“I wanted to create a more modern style similar to Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys and Amy Winehouse and hopefully I have achieved that.

“I now have a couple of months before my course when I can concentrate on writing some more new songs.”

Zoe's previous singles include Lies and Selfish Love.

To sign up to run the Leigh Community 10k visit leigh10k.co.uk.