Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello kick off Bluesfest

The "biggest ever" Bluesfest has begun in Australia.

This year's music festival, which takes place near Byron Bay on the New South Wales coast, features acts including Bob Dylan, Grace Jones, Elvis Costello, BB King and ZZ Top.

The event kicked off on Thursday night and will continue until Tuesday, with crowds of up to 17,000 people expected each day. Because of the high demand for tickets, organisers were forced to add a sixth day and ask Dylan, Jones and Costello to perform twice.

Bluesfest director Peter Noble told The Daily Telegraph: "I think it's [our] biggest event ever... a blockbuster. We're basically sold out, but just half sold out for Tuesday. It's blue sky and we've had beautiful weather for the last two days. We're all gonna have a ball."

When acts for the festival were confirmed last year, Noble described Dylan as the "Holy Grail" and said that Costello was "the icing on the cake of the best lineup we've had in years".

69-year-old Dylan is best known for songs including 'Like A Rolling Stone', 'Just Like A Woman', and 'Lay Lady Lay'.