With only a few weeks to go before we kick off Sidmouth FolkWeek with two great pre-festival concerts with darling of the British folk scene Kate Rusby on Thurs 30th July
With over 800 events taking pace over the week-long festival, there is a dazzling array of possibilities on offer for festival goers! The programme helps individuals to tailor their seaside holiday festival experience, enabling them to plan ahead and pick from major concerts, intimate sessions, folk dance, ceilidhs, Children’s Festival, youth events, storytelling, special shows, spectacular displays and processions and a 250+ event workshop programme. The workshop programme is unrivalled in its range and quality – offering both beginners and experts a wealth of one-off tasters, week-long series and masterclasses in a wide-range of music, dance and song, from Balkan dance with Mara! and Gary Dawson to Jo May’s Percussion or a singing workshop with The Spooky Men’s Chorale.
Headline acts throughout the week include: Irish stars Altan; Festival Patrons and outstanding acoustic trio Show Of Hands; Australian vocal powerhouse The Spooky Men’s Chorale; Gaelic singing sensation Julie Fowlis - of Pixar’s Brave fame; Skye-based party starters Peatbog Faeries; radical English and reggae roots from Edward II; the spectacular and athletic Demon Barber’s XL new show Disco At The Tavern; Bristol’s minimalist masters Spiro; The Poozies, featuring Sally Barker from BBC One’s The Voice, amongst hundreds of others. Upcoming artists are featured in the EFDSS Folk Rising Plus concerts with Ange Hardy, Maz O’Connor, Jaywalkers and more, as well as fRoots’ Cellarful of Folkadelia sessions Stick In The Wheel, Martha Tilston, Heg & The Wolf Chorus, Amadou Diagne, Lynched and the new up-tempo Hootenanny@Carinas evenings with Keston Cobblers Club, Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra and Harp and a Monkey and more.
As well as concert and roots party fun, expect diverse dance traditions taking to the streets – from the Tibetan Tashi Lhunpo Monks to Bacup’s Britannia Coco-nut Dancers!
Thanks to the support of Creative Scotland Spotlight Scotland events return to showcase the breadth and depth of talent from North of the border including the young talents of Feis Rois Ceilidh Trail, The Tweed Project, Barluath, Rachel Newton, Mischa Macpherson, Ewan McLennan Trio, Twelfth Day and more. They will have opportunities to share stages with big names Peatbog Faeries, The Poozies and Emily Smith in July.
Published on 14 July 2015 by Ben Robinson
