Towns along the Tour de France route will be treated to a bicycle-powered musical extravaganza a few weeks before the race.

Leeds band Hope & Social are set to entertain residents in 12 communities, including Otley, that are preparing to welcome the race’s riders in July.

The group will play the shows – featuring a mobile stage and a big screen powered by six static bicycles – over the two weekends of June 7 and 8 and June 21 and 22.

The first will take place in singer Simon Wainwright’s hometown of Otley on the morning of Saturday, June 7, when The Big Wide, the song the band wrote for the Grand Depart’s Yorkshire Festival 2014, looks set to be a highlight.

Simon, 38, said: “Making music together is such an enjoyable and relaxing thing to do and to give people a reason to do that as part of something that’s so momentous is a great opportunity.”

Audience participation will also be taken to new heights on the tour. The band’s website explains: “Over 200 miles and doing three gigs per day we’re going to be laughing in the face of impossibility and rocking into market squares and sports grounds, taking over your village green or school field and making the biggest noise and the biggest party we possibly can.

“But this isn’t just any tour. With drums and voices, hearts and souls, we’ll gather hundreds of new members as we go, forming A Band Anyone Can Join so in June we can play 12 shows in 12 magnificent Yorkshire locations on our brand new cycle-powered stage.

“And there’s more – we want you to join our band.

“Maybe you’re a brass band, a singing group, a football team, a scout troop, a primary school.

“Maybe you’re a bunch of mechanics who’ve always fancied being a male voice choir or a bowls club who’d love to learn the ukulele.

“Or maybe you just fancy bringing your bike down and helping to power our stage! The wilder the better.”

Hope & Social have been working with Grassington Festival on the Tour of Infinite Possibility, one of 47 cultural events taking place before the Tour starts on Saturday, July 5.

The executive producer of Yorkshire Festival 2014, Henrietta Duckworth, said: “They’ve given us the festival song, The Big Wide, and now they’re giving people the chance to get together, learn an instrument and have a fun-fuelled creative experience by being part of a band.”

For more details about the tour – which will also call in on everywhere from Hawes to Holmfirth – and how to download The Big Wide, which is available free, visit hopeandsocial. co.uk/tip.