Festival to celebrate life of young County Durham man who died of skin cancer

A music festival in memory of a young County Durham man who died of skin cancer is taking place in Chester-le-Street today.

Tom Fest is celebrating the life of 20-year-old Tom Linton who died in May 2020, five months after being diagnosed with melanoma.

The festival is also an awareness event and his parents and twin sister have been working with Birtley based charity MelanomaMe to try and encourage people to get checked if they feel something isn’t right.

Doctors believed Tom’s cancer came from a mole that he had tattooed over thinking it was nothing to worry about.

The Northumbria University student asked his family to grant his final wish, to raise awareness of melanoma so that no other person would have to go through what he went through.

Tom Fest is taking place at Tom's former school Park View in Chester-le-Street.