A MUSIC star has launched a brand-new city centre venue dedicated to folk.

Michael Rosenberg, better known by his stage name Passenger, was among the performers at the opening night of The Folklore Rooms, above The Quadrant in Brighton.

Folklore is the brainchild of city musician Jacko Hooper, who has been putting on popular folk nights under its banner since 2014.

Mr Hooper hopes the new venue will become a base for fans and performers of folk music alike.

He said: "We have been doing monthly showcases since 2014 - and many other shows all around Brighton during these years.

"What we didn't have was our own space, we were looking for the right thing.

"We wanted to create a beautiful, intimate space for folk music and I think we've done it."

Folklore now boasts having worked with more than 200 different artists through its monthly showcases at the White Rabbit pub in North Laine.

Mr Hooper said the new venue had been in the works "before the world stopped" and has been spending time perfecting the new space.

"We've got the capability for live music seven nights a week," he said.

"We gutted out the whole place when we first went in, redecorating the whole area.

"We have spent a lot of time making sure everything is in keeping aesthetically - a really welcome environment."

Singer-songwriter and Folklore supporter Passenger turned up to perform at the venue's opening night on August 22.

The musician from Brighton - best known for his 2012 hit Let Her Go - was joined by Bess Atwell and Jacko Hooper himself.

Mr Hooper said: "Mike played our fifth birthday show and is just someone I've known performing myself. He's been really supportive of Folklore and my own music.

"He has his show coming up at the dome and hasn't been playing much either, so he's getting back into the swing of it.

"We also had a lot of people from the community over the last few years.

"It started out as a one-off monthly gig and it just sort of grew into this community, we've released records, we have a radio show and now we have the music venue.

"It's a community of singer-songwriters and fans of folk and indie-folk.

"We want people to come down to the new venue - after such a difficult last year for everyone - and support live music."

The entrance to the new venue can be found on the corner of Queens Road junction with Air Street.