Latest Festival News

Cambridge Folk Festival is delighted to announce the first names in a broad and diverse programme for 2023. Taking place from July 27-30 in the beautiful grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall, tickets are now on sale at: https://www.cambridgelive.org.uk/folk-festival/tickets Leading the way are Scotland’s finest The Proclaimers, whose blistering live performances ...

Singer songwriter Billy Bragg has topped the bill in the first wave of artists announced for this year’s Shrewsbury Folk Festival. Oysterband, Breabach, Jiggy, Spiers & Boden, Talisk, Daphne’s Flight, kora master N’Faly Kouyaté from Afro Celt Sound System, Maddy Prior & Forgotten Lands, Leveret, N'famady Kouyaté, The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican, The Salts and Dana Immanuel & The Stolen Band also join the first line ...

Cambridge Folk Festival made a triumphant return in 2022, following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, cementing its place as “The jewel within the UK folk festival circuit” (Songlines). The Festival will be back in 2023 from July 27-30 in the beautiful grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall. Take a ...

A mesmerising glimpse into the landscapes, folktales and songs that inspired one of Scotland's great early collectors of Traditional Arts! Marjory Kennedy-Fraser began collecting Hebridean songs in 1905, fired by a desire to preserve and celebrate the musical riches of the islands’ people. These two disarming films, made by Kennedy-Fraser ...

Manchester Folk Festival has always striven to present the very best in current folk and acoustic music, resulting in a rich mix of styles and artists approaching folk and storytelling from different perspectives, and the 5th edition of Manchester Folk Festival is no exception. The festival is run by English ...

The Highlands & Islands will see a flurry of musical and cultural activity from this Friday (2nd September) until 10th September as the Blas Festival hits the road for the 18th year, visiting village halls and concert venues across the region, as well as an extensive online programme of events. Musicians and singers ...

Award-winning multi-instrumentalist Tim Edey is the latest addition to the already stunning acts lined up for Iúr Cinn Fleadh – Newry’s music festival. A double BBC Musician of the year BBC ALBA/Scotland Best Traditional musician 2020 and BBC Radio Two Musician of the year 2012, Tim will play on the ...

Tide of folk music and family fun will flow through Newry this Bank Holiday A fun-filled family festival for all ages – that’s Iúr Cinn Fleadh – Newry’s annual traditional Irish music and community extravaganza. Having pulled through the pandemic, this Newry 2020 event bounces back on August Bank Holiday ...

Dandelion Festival, a free outdoor music and arts festival celebrating sustainability takes place Friday 2 - Sunday 4 of September Following the success of this summer’s inaugural Dandelion Festival Glasgow, organisers are delighted to announce the first acts to take to the stage during the Inverness festival this September will ...

A spectacular line-up includes both legends and fresh talent at Brighton and Hove Folk Festival this year Brighton and Hove Folk Festival has announced its full line-up, offering fans a chance to see some of the best folk acts around this September 10th. Now in its second year, the annual festival ...

Cambridge Folk Festival continues its tradition of hosting the biggest international stars in folk and roots music whilst also providing a platform for up and coming new artists and nurturing promising young talent. Returning in 2022 after a 2 year hiatus, headliners for Stages 1 and 2 include: Gipsy Kings ...

Overview Before Campy Sets Off In The Folkmobile The Folkmobile is now fully serviced and raring to go!  I am so looking forward to Underneath The Stars Festival, albeit a 6 hour drive and 620 miles round trip but well worth it for the most amazing line-up!  As I write ...

The 15th Gate To Southwell Festival – one of the East Midlands’ premier music and family events - begins next Thursday July 14th and runs through to Sunday night July 17th.  Over four days, there’ll be more than 50 international roots, World, acoustic and folk acts across four stages plus ...

The tiny Hampshire village of Wickham has been immortalised in song by Steve Knightley. The Show of Hands singer has penned a special anthem in praise of the picturesque setting in the heart of the Meon Valley. It is a beautiful melodic and poetic tribute to an area which has ...

Moseley Folk and Arts Festival has announced a new bursary scheme in honour of renowned broadcaster, and friend, Janice Long. Hello You! The Janice Long Bursary has been set up to support new and emerging artists. Janice, who tragically passed away in December 2021, was the regular compere at Moseley Folk ...

With her tenth solo record Love Songs, Bella Hardy has returned to the traditional ballads she’s known all her life. Since 2017’s self-written Hey Sammy, Bella has released a best-of collection Postcards & Pocketbooks, an accompanying hardback book The Complete Lyrics of Bella Hardy and become the parent of two ...

Dandelion Festival - a free outdoor music and arts festival celebrating sustainability takes place Friday 17 - Sunday 19 of June VanIves, Rachel Sermanni, Sam Lee and The Joy Hotel join previously announced artists including Jason Singh, Rura, Newton Faulkner, Les Amazones d’Afrique, Darlingside, This Is The Kit, Admiral Fallow, ...

Belfast TradFest, 23rd - 29th July 2022, returns with a jam-packed week full of traditional music, song and dance, featuring some of the best traditional musicians, singers & dancers from across these islands. This week-long event, featuring  a summer school and a full programme of concerts, workshops, talks, lectures, sessions, ...

As reunions go they don’t come much sweeter or timely than this. Back in 2012, Suffolk’s inaugural FolkEast festival saw an act described as ‘the most ambitious folk fusion band of the 21st century’ perform a memorable finale headline set. Bold and cross-cultural, The Imagined Village  (founded in 2004 by ...

Scotland’s longest running greenfield festival is back! Knockengorroch Festival returns to the hills of Galloway with its long-awaited 2020 line-up and new additions for 2022. The Knockengorroch site opens on Thursday 19, before the Festival kicks off proper on Friday 20 May, when Afro Celt Sound System finally take to ...

Taking place at the beautiful Nottingham Arboretum park in the heart of the city, the cult folk hero and festival veteran will curate a day of life-affirming music on the Summer Bank Holiday Sunday (28 August). Calling on some of his closest musical compadres, expect performances from She Drew The ...

The Saw Doctors will celebrate 30 years of touring the UK on August 5th when they play an exclusive summer show at Wickham Music Festival. Due to Covid restrictions and other distractions, the Wickham Festival concert will be The Saw Doctors’ first UK gig in five years. Back in 2017, ...

Lindisfarne, the legendary folk rock pioneers with unforgettable songs like 'Meet Me On The Corner', 'Fog On The Tyne', 'Lady Eleanor' and 'Run For Home' and a reputation for live performance second to none, will headline the opening night of the 2022 St Ives September Festival at The Guildhall on ...

While last September’s event was a great success – named “the best live event of 2021” by the prestigious RnR music magazine - everyone felt the absence of global acts due to pandemic travel restrictions.  But now leading French Canadian band, Le Vent Du Nord (who were a big hit ...

Manchester Folk Festival announces the first wave of artists for 13th to 15th October 2022. Now in its 6th year, the festival returns once again to its hub at HOME with shows at 02 Ritz and new for 2022, The Blues Kitchen, with further venues to be announced in April ...

Running from Friday 2 to Sunday 4 September 2022 at Moseley Park and Pool, the annual event will see appearances from Jethro Tull, Dr. John Cooper Clarke, The Coral, Midlake, poet Simon Armitage, and Vashti Bunyan. They join the previously publicised Supergrass, Kurt Vile, The Weather Station and Bess Atwell - who will be taking to the stage on opening night (Friday 2 ...

Knockengorroch Festival has revealed its 2022 theme - Diva and Icons - through a photo series with rap artist and singer Nova AKA Nova Scotia The Truth. Pictured in an open mussel shell at the Deugh river, Nova presents this year’s theme in a homage to the endangered freshwater mussel ...

More names have been announced for this year’s Cambridge Folk Festival, back in 2022 after a two-year break and shaping up to be an unmissable weekend for fans of folk and roots music. Tickets on sale: https://www.cambridgelive.org.uk/folk-festival/tickets A headline performance from the magnificent Gipsy Kings featuring Nicolas Reyes, who have ...

Party time! When FolkEast returns to Suffolk this summer it will be celebrating a decade’s unbroken run – a journey that not even a pandemic could stop. And topping the Sunday bill will be none other than the legendary ‘First Lady of Folk’ Kate Rusby. 2022 is a special year ...

Scotland’s leading world ceilidh is back, as Knockengorroch is set to return music to the hills and people to the land once more, 19 - 22 May. Knockengorroch has unveiled the first acts to perform at its comeback event in the Carsphairn Hills of south west Scotland. Leading the line-up ...

“The jewel within the UK folk festival circuit” (Songlines Magazine) returns after a two-year hiatus and Cambridge Folk Festival is delighted to announce the first artists for its 2022 line-up, as tickets go on sale today, Tuesday 07 December: https://www.cambridgelive.org.uk/folk-festival/tickets Returning to headline in 2022, international chart-topper Passenger, who progressed ...

It has only been a short space of time since The Magpies burst onto the UK folk scene, but they have already made a huge impact with their fresh brand of transatlantic neo-folk and have been ‘making waves wherever they play’ (Phil Beer, Show of Hands). Three accomplished musicians in ...

 Performances Thursday 5 – Sunday 29 August Edinburgh's favourite festival hub, Assembly George Square Gardens, launches its new Outdoor Stage with a fabulous line-up of local, Scottish and festival music from Thursday 5 August. Supported by the Scottish Government and City of Edinburgh Council, Assembly's Outdoor Stage will feature the best folk, indie, blues and acoustic ...

HWell here we are, after the terrible year that we have endured, we have at last been able to put together a programme of events to mark the weekend of the Otley Folk Festival. This year’s event will be a small affair, designed to keep the profile of the festival ...

Organisers of Underneath The Stars Festival have opted for a spacious, socially distanced, outdoor environment and lots of family fun as part of its packed schedule of leading folk, rock, and indie musicians.  They’re joined by poets, authors and broadcasters, together with craft tents, storytelling, street artists and circus treats ...

It's all systems go for the Wickham Festival which will go ahead as planned from August 5-8. Organisers have confirmed that Wickham Festival will go on following the latest government announcement easing lockdown restrictions. With a host of star names including Van Morrison and Fairport Convention, the four-day festival is ...

Fairport Convention today announced that their annual music festival, Fairport’s Cropredy Convention, has been postponed for the second time.The three-day event had been scheduled to take place on 12-14 August this year. It will now be staged over the weekend of 11, 12, 13 August 2022 on its usual farmland ...

Skye Live is taking things online this year with four exclusive performance pieces filmed at some of the island's most iconic locations. The annual festival, which usually takes place over two days on the Isle of Skye, will be hosting a free stream on Thursday 8th of July and features ...

You can’t keep a good band down – and Talisk are widely recognised as one hell of a band! Described by Glasgow Herald as ‘a rockin’ powerhouse’, Talisk are one of the most exciting acts on the UK folk scene, renowned for their innovative, show-stopping, high energy instrumentals and trademark ...

Norfolk World Music Festival returns in 2021 aiming to create “Umoja” the Swahili and Zulu word for togetherness and unity but of course in these strange times in a safe and socially distanced way. Having had to cancel the festival in 2020 the festival, that is based in Southburgh, returns ...

Shrewsbury Folk Festival has revealed its plans for a covid-safe festival including a refreshed line up to celebrate the best of British based folk artists. Organisers have elected for outside stages and more outdoor activities to ensure it can meet any possible covid related regulations that might be in place ...

With the biggest easing of Covid restrictions about to go ahead, and the roadmap out of lockdown on target, England’s most easterly folk festival, FolkEast, has confirmed it is on course to return this August – with weekend tickets now on sale. Last summer FolkEast became the first English folk ...

Devon’s Beautiful Days, which is scheduled to take place from the 20th – 22nd August 2021 in the grounds of Escot Park, has announced over 50 artists for the 2021 event including headliners Frank Turner And The Sleeping Souls, James and Levellers. Beautiful Days has never just been about the ...

Back in March 2020 when the world got flipped on its axis, Towersey Festival was one of the very first events to cancel their live festival and move online for the year. “We felt we had to be proactive and take our audience with us on a digital journey through ...

It has only been a short space of time since The Magpies burst onto the UK folk scene, but they have already made a huge impact with their fresh brand of transatlantic neo-folk and have been ‘making waves wherever they play’ (Phil Beer, Show of Hands). Three accomplished musicians in ...

Stellar line-up of artists from Scotland and around the world Digital content – live streamed and online DATES: Friday 30 April - Monday 10 May 2021 Edinburgh Tradfest is set to return this year with an exciting online programme running from 30 April -10 May 2021, thanks to continued support ...

Shrewsbury Folk Festival has received a grant of £45,256 from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help organisers plan and deliver its four-day event this August Bank Holiday weekend. More than £300 million has been awarded to thousands of cultural organisations across the country including Shrewsbury, which is ...

Line-up includes The Futureheads, The Breath, Kathryn Tickell and Spiers & Boden’s comeback Manchester Folk Festival has announced its full programme across multiple venues from 21st to 23rd October. Although not able to run in 2020, the festival hosted the live streamed launch of the Official Folk Albums Chart from ...

Back in March 2020 when the world got flipped on its axis, Towersey Festival was one of the very first events to cancel their live festival and move online for the year. “We felt we had to be proactive and take our audience with us on a digital journey through ...

Celtic Connections has announced the first list of artists who will perform as part of their digital-first festival this January. Across 19 days, the festival will present online performances every night between Friday 15th January - Tuesday 2nd February 2021. World class performances will be available to view online with some of ...

Shrewsbury Folk Festival has made its first major line-up announcement for 2021 after managing to secure the majority of its performers from this year's festival that was postponed due to coronavirus. American folk legend, Judy Collins, globally acclaimed Galician piper Carlos Núñez, Lindisfarne, Show of Hands, Oysterband, The Lost Words: Spell ...

Shrewsbury Folk Festival has announced the line-up for its free virtual festival that is taking place next month after the event was postponed due to coronavirus. Folk, world and Americana stars have recorded exclusive performances for Virtually Shrewsbury Folk Festival that will be hosted at www.shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk on August 29 and ...

Due to be held between 15th and 18th October 2020, the public festival Manchester Folk Festival and its associated industry showcase event English Folk Expo Showcase, will now be postponed until 21st-24th October 2021 due to the impact of Covid-19. Manchester Folk Festival, established in 2017, is based in venues ...

A message from festival director Joe Heap We’ve been working tirelessly over the last few weeks to try and find a way to run Towersey 2020.  As the world crisis worsens week by week we have been trying to balance safety alongside our ability to run a great festival. We ...