Sidmouth’s annual week of music, dance, storytelling and all things ‘folk’ gets underway this Friday.
Sidmouth Folk Festival runs until Friday, August 11, with hundreds of events and activities taking place at venues across the town.
Topping the bill on The Ham main concert stage during the week are the female-led folk band The Unthanks, English four-piece Banter, Quebecois live wires Le Vent du Nord, festival patrons and Devon folk icons Show of Hands with Miranda Sykes, folk-rock pioneers Lindisfarne, Irish songstress Cara Dillon and the contemporary musical storytelling of Teeside’s The Young’uns.
Smaller concerts and street performances take place all over the town during the week.
Dance fans will not be short of entertainment, with regular Morris displays every day throughout the week, plenty of ceilidhs, and the chance to join tuition sessions and learn a variety of dance styles.
There’s also a huge range of workshops and talks throughout the week; try out a new musical instrument, write a poem, listen to storytelling or learn the traditional meanings and messages of folk songs.
As usual there is a ‘festival within a festival’ for children, a craft and music village, plenty of food and drink stalls, and late-night entertainment at the Bulverton.
Not to be missed on Sunday is the annual Horse Trials, in which hobby horses and other Morris ‘beasts’ are put through their paces in a series of comedy challenges. Also on Sunday there will be the first public screening of a long-awaited documentary film about Sidmouth Folk Festival, made by Paul and Ali Tully and featuring archive video clips from past decades. The film, ‘A Small Quiet English Town’, will be shown at the Radway Cinema on Sunday evening.
On a more solemn note, Wednesday afternoon will see a tribute to Paul Sartin, the folk musician who died suddenly in 2022.
Summing up the Folk Festival, director John Braithwaite said it is a huge team effort: “Producing a festival with over 700 events across eight days in the present climate is a major operation, involving hundreds of event volunteers and a core staff working throughout the year.
“Continuing support from the local councils, town businesses and organisations enables us to produce an event with a significant national and international profile, lending recognition to the region as a whole and Devon in particular.”
For full details of the events, activities, artists and facilities visit www.sidmouthfolkfestival.co.uk where a programme can be downloaded.
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