Sidmouth FolkWeek returns for eight days of summer, seaside festival fun from July 31 – August 7, in its idyllic setting amongst East Devon’s red cliffs. This year the festival has an ear to the past, and an eye on the future! Building on the success of last year’s Diamond Anniversary celebrations, the quality bar remains high – with major names from the folk music scene as well as fantastic emerging talent – moving forward into the next generation of the festival. FolkWeek offers a diverse range of events to suit all interests – from major concerts to intimate sessions, from fantastic folk dance to cracking ceilidhs, from high quality Children’s Festival family fun to Shooting Roots’ youth sessions, storytelling to special shows, spectacular displays and processions and an unrivalled 200+ event workshop programme. This year a revamped Bulverton Marquee, where evening roots and dance parties are held, includes a new late night Betsy’s Lounge chill-out venue, with a new special ticket deal available for 18-25 year olds. What’s on offer in 2015? Pre-festival concerts Two amazing pre-festival concerts feature South West shanty-singing favourites Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends (with support from Devon’s creamiest singer Jim Causley) on Fri 31st July at 3pm, and darling of the British folk scene, and its most famous contemporary singer Kate Rusby (with support from Dorset’s Ninebarrow) on Thurs 30th July at 8pm. Headliners throughout the week include: Irish stars Altan; Festival Patrons and outstanding acoustic trio Show Of Hands; Australian vocal tour-de-force 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 and The Poozies featuring Sally Barker from BBC One’s The Voice amongst many 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 the likes of Keston Cobblers Club, Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra and Harp and a Monkey. 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! The Taster Programme is now available at www.sidmouthfolkweek.co.uk, giving a flavour of what’s on offer throughout the week. The full programme will be available in July.
