Devon, Dorset & Somerset Series of Newspapers Ltd

THE HOME OF VIEW FROM NEWSPAPERS IN DORSET,

 PULMAN'S VIEW FROM IN DEVON AND

THE WEEKENDER IN SOMERSET

• News from West Dorset, East Devon & South Somerset

Sidmouth Folk Week - August 1st-8th

Celebrating its 60th year in style

The festival is coming to town!

FESTIVAL fans in Sidmouth will be celebrating six decades of the town’s famous Folk Week, with events kicking off at multiple venues on Thursday.

Organisers have pulled out all the stops to mark the festival’s Diamond Anniversary, and more than 700 events have been planned for the annual music extravaganza.

With performances ranging from headline concerts to intimate sessions, festival bosses have aimed to provide something for everyone at this year’s Folk Week, and organisers are promising a festival to remember for many years to come.

Alongside the music, there will also be displays and processions, workshops and talks, ceilidhs, social dances and much more.

Events get underway on Thursday evening with a pre-festival concert from festival veteran Ralph McTell on the Ham, with other performances from Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham, Cara Dillon and Steve Knightley on stage over the weekend.

Concerts take place in the Ham Marquee at 12noon, 3.15pm and 8pm daily throughout the week, and there will be a string of top musical talent performing at the Festival Clubhouse at the Bulverton.

Carinas nightclub will also be serving up a series of shows courtesy of fRoots magazine, under the ‘A Cellar Full of Folkadelia’ banner, between 3pm and 5pm from Sunday through to Thursday.

High-energy evening ceilidhs have been lined up for each night of the festival at the Blackmore Gardens, starting at 7.30pm.

And the gardens will also be the hub of the children’s festival, with wall-to-wall workshops as well as concerts, dances and other entertainments for all the family.

The spectacular Folk Week 60th anniversary celebrations will be rounded off with a torchlight procession and firework finale on the Esplanade from 10pm to 11pm on Friday (August 8th).

For more information and full line-ups visit www.sidmouthfolkweek.co.uk

Ham Concert Highlights

The Ham Marquee is the main concert venue for the festival. Concerts take place at 12noon, 3.15pm and 8pm daily.

HAM EVENING CONCERTS at 8pm:

Thurs 31st - PRE-FESTIVAL SPECIAL with Ralph McTell

Fri 1st - Legendary ambassadors of Scottish music, Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham plusSouth Mainland Young Fiddlers and Fiona Hunter.

Sat 2nd - Irish songbird Cara Dillon plus Manx trio Barrule

Sun 3rd - Steve Knightley with friends (Miranda Sykes, Rex Preston, Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin)

plus local talents India Electric Co.

Mon 4th - A double bill of exciting young Scottish players – with Breabach and Salt House

Tues 5th – Father and daughter tradition bearers Martin Carthy & Eliza Carthy plus Folk Award winner Lisa Knapp

Weds 6th - Solid-gold folk-rockers Oysterband plus the next generation of renowned Sussex folk singing family The Young Coppers

Thurs 7th - Northumbrian folk traditions and classical sounds from Kathryn Tickell & The Side plus acclaimed ballad-based collaboration The Furrow Collective 

Fri 8th - The always entertaining Belshazzar’s Feast plus ‘Newcastle fiddler’ Tom McConville

……………………………………………………………………………

HAM AFTERNOON CONCERTS at 3.15pm

Fri 1st - Welcome to Devon Concert - Jackie Oates, Jim Causley & special guests

Sat 2nd - Chris Wood & Andy Cutting plus The Pigeon Swing

Sun 3rd - Pioneering Quebecois Yves Lambert Trio plus The Carrivick Sisters

Mon 4th - Gentle Men – a moving account of the WW1 performed by Roy Bailey & Robb Johnson

Tues 5th – Three British virtuosos Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting and Nancy Kerr plus Celtic guitar hero Tony McManus 

Weds 6th - The side-splitting comic genius of New Rope String Band

Thurs 7th - 60TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT with The Copper Family and special guests 

Fri 8th - Exciting double header with Canadian April Verch Band and Celtic stars Kris Drever & Eamonn Coyne

……………………………………………………………………………..

HAM LUNCHTIME CONCERTS at 12noon

Sun 3rd - Red-hot piping from Ross Ainslie & Jarlath Henderson plus Mary McNamara & Eileen O'Brien

Mon 4th - Dynamic young Welsh band Calan plus Pete Coe

Tues 5th - The welcome union of Roy Bailey and John Kirkpatrick 

Weds 6th - The spectacular Zulu Tradition

Thurs 7th - Old Swan Band’s record launch and 40th anniversary celebrations

Fri 8th - The Oxford Girl & Other Stories with John Jones, Ian Telfer & Alan Prosser

……………………………………………………………………………..

Festival Clubhouse Highlights

FESTIVAL CLUBHOUSE AT THE BULVERTON

Funky roots party evenings with:

Fri 1st - quirky orchestral acoustic folk from festival favourites Moulettes (9.15pm) plus Kentish alt-folkers Cocos Lovers (8.15pm)

Sat 2nd – a Spotlight Scotland night with the soaring pipe driven tunes of Jarlath Henderson and Ross Ainslie (9.05pm) plus South Mainland Young Fiddlers (8.15) 

Sun 3rd - Will Lang's Silent Disco (8.15om) with guest DJs including Eliza Carthy, Sandra Kerr and Tom Wright. '60s fancy dress is optional but the fun is compulsory!

Mon 4th - vibrant Danish roots Habadekuk (9.15pm) with powerful horns, toe-tapping fiddle and contagious rhythms and festival barnstormers CoCo and the Butterfields (8.15pm).

Tues 5th - Kan’s (9.15pm) galvanising Celtic instrumental union plus the Transatlantic roots of The Willows (8.15pm)

Wed 6th - Morris Wednesday starting with The Morris Party (7pm) hosted by Great Western Morris, then by 2014: A Folk Odyssey, celebrating 60 glorious years of Sidmouth Festival (8pm) featuring Eynsham Morris, Windsor Morris, Candyrapper, Newcastle Kingsmen and Great Western Morris, plus a special performance by The Bo Diddlers.

Thurs 7th - the much-anticipated Oysterband Ceilidh (7.30pm) with caller Gordon Potts and special guests including former Oysterband members and Steve Knightley, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Matt Gordon & Leonard Podolak, The Claque and Taffy Thomas.

Fri 8th - Eurodance Finale (8pm) Fest Noz and Bal Dances with masters of the Breton tradition Sonneurs & Co. plus Chris Walshaw, Frances Watt and Steve Tyler and Kerry Fletcher.

……………………………………………………………………………..

Folkadelia Highlights

fRoots magazine curate another fine A Cellar Full of Folkadelia series from the left-field of the folk tradition at Carinas from Sun –Thurs (3-5pm).

Sun 3rd - Zambian songwriter Namvula and psych-folksters Sproatly Smith 

Mon 4th - “Spine-tinglingly beautiful” material from The Gren Bartley Band and the ethereal twists of Mary Hampton

Tues 5th - The glorious singing and songwriting of Folk Award winner Lisa Knapp and Mancunian alt-folkers Harp and a monkey

Weds 6th - Next generation of Sussex singing family The Young Coppers and Sussex-grown old-time sounds from The Long Hill Ramblers

Thurs 7th - Mighty ballads-based The Furrow Collective (Alasdair Roberts, Emily Portman, Lucy Farrell & Rachel Netwon) and Australian blood harmonies of young songwriters The Mae Trio 

…………………………………………………………………………..

Ceilidh Highlights

BLACKMORE GARDENS CEILIDHS 

High energy evenings ceilidhs take place at the Blackmore Gardens every night at 7.30pm:

Fri 1st - The driving rhythms and fulsome brass of Florida in a Tropical Beach Party mood!

Sat 2nd - Funky ceilidh upstarts Toothless Mary

Sun 3rd - The “definitive ceilidh band” Gas Mark 5

Mon 4th - The unique Anglo-French stylings of Cock & Bull 

Tues 5th – A extra-special vintage night: a Grand Anniversary open-air ceilidh with the seminal Old Swan Band 

Wed 6th - French-Canadian repertoire from The Pigeon Swing plus Liam Robinson Dance Band

Thurs 7th - Eurodance Fest Noz and Bal Dances with Sonneurs & Co plus Chris Walshaw, Frances Watt, Steve Tyler and Kerry Fletcher.

Fri 8th - The high-energy contra of English Contra Dance Band

……………………………………………………………………………..

Children’s Festival Highlights

Blackmore Gardens is the hub of the Children’s festival with wall-to-wall workshops as well as concerts, dances and lashings of fun for all the family. Soak up the festive atmosphere with daily lunchtime performances on the Garden Stage from around 12pm and don’t miss the FAMILY EVENING CONCERTS. All evening shows are at 7pm in All Saints Church Hall (*except Sun 3rd)

Sat 2nd - A Komedy of Errors Family Show from Circus Berzercus. A fun-filled laugh-out-loud evening full of jokes and crazy antics

Sun 3rd - Special Family Story Night with master tellers Taffy Thomas and Debs Newbold providing a fabulous evening of gripping tales to entertain all the family, Unitarian Hall

Mon 4th - Family Show with Sandra Kerr. This enduringly brilliant singer will perform her well-known traditional songs and music. 

Tues 5th - Town Mouse and Country Mouse. A wonderfully magical puppet show withHand to Mouth Theatre 

Weds 6th - Zulu Tradition will wow the audience with their high energy drumming and dance in this very special family show.

Thurs 7th - Family Ceilidh. Put your dancing shoes on and move to this brilliant young band, working throughout the week under the leadership of Bryony Griffith and Will Hampson to provide fine foot-stomping music. 

……………………………………………………………………………..

And that’s just scraping the surface!

Add to the mix, workshops, processions, displays, storytelling, special shows, social dance, and a festival atmosphere hard to beat…all finished off with a spectacular Torchlight Procession and Firework Finale on the Esplanade (10-11pm) on Friday 8th August!

This will be a (60th!) party to remember for years to come.

Visit www.sidmouthfolkweek.co.uk

Box Office: 01395 577952 

Selected photos from 2013/14 are available to purchase online here

LATEST HEADLINES