Thousands of participants have been invited to the world’s largest ever sleep-out event in Edinburgh city centre with the aim of raising £4 million and catalyse a movement to eradicate homelessness in Scotland within five years.

Launched yesterday by Social Bite co-founder Josh Littlejohn MBE, Sleep in the Park will see 9,000 people to sleep rough in West Princes Street Gardens on December 9 with a live concert with rare acoustic performances from A-list stars who will be ‘busking’ for the audience.

Participants will be joined by an impressive line-up of artists before bedding down for a cold night in the open, enjoying exclusive ‘unplugged’ sets from Liam Gallagher, Deacon Blue, Amy Macdonald, Frightened Rabbit and very special guests.

Comedian Rob Brydon will be hosting the event, Monthy Python legend John Cleese will be performing a bedtime story and attendees will hear from Sir Bob Geldof on his support for the cause. Sir Bob will also be sleeping out overnight along with a host of other celebrities, sports personalities and figures from across Scotland’s political parties.

No tickets will be sold for Sleep in the Park, members of the public and businesses can only attend the event by reaching fundraising targets and accepting the sleep-out challenge.

The artists taking to the stage during Sleep in the Park