International Feast of Folk

This year’s award-winning Southwell Folk Festival (5th – 8th June) promises to be more internationally-eclectic than ever before, attracting great acts from Canada, Ireland, Scotland, the USA and Estonia alongside established British talent such as Bella Hardy, Feast of Fiddles, the Poozies and young stars Greg Russell & Ciaran Algar.

Early Bird reduced price tickets are now on sale for the event, which, in addition to world class music, promises a beer and cider festival, workshops, children’s entertainment and pub sessions throughout the town.

Having received a Festival of the Year award from the prestigious Fatea magazine, Southwell’s organisers are building on its growing reputation as “the biggest little folk festival in the world”.

Headline acts will include The Bills from Canada’s West Coast and Scotland’s Treacherous Orchestra, an eleven piece roots supergroup who were nominated for Best Act in the recent BBC Folk Awards. Vin Garbutt and Martyn Joseph will be making welcome returns to Southwell and commemorating the start of the Great War there’s also the premiere of A Day’s Work, Mick Ryan’s folk opera.

Plus The Sojourners, a much-acclaimed gospel trio from Vancouver, will be flying in; they’ve worked with eminent artists such as the Dixie Hummingbirds, Dr John and The Blind Boys of Alabama and are certain to bring something soulful and different to Nottinghamshire. Other top line performers include the Ross Ainslie & Jarlath Henderson Big Band, jazz and blues guitar legend Woody Mann, American duo The Kennedys and Jools Holland favourite, boogie-woogie pianist Ben Waters.

Over the last seven years, the festival has grown to become the premier roots event in the Midlands, guaranteeing more than 40 top quality performers over four days.  As previous visitors will testify, if you want to enjoy the best in folk and roots music or simply ceilidh the nights away, Southwell is definitely the place to be from 5th to 8th June.

Tickets are available online – www.southwellfolkfestival.org.uk – or through local outlets including the Cathedral Shop, Southwell, the main tourist centre in Nottingham, Woodlanders, of King Street Southwell, and RST Music Services, Cartergate, Newark.