Four days of live music will be performed in Burnham-On-Sea when the town holds its annual FolkFest this weekend.
Dozens of musical acts will be performing across the town when the popular event returns for a ninth year from Thursday to Sunday (28th-31st August).
The entertainment gets underway on Thursday night at the Ritz Acoustic Club in Victoria Street with an opening performance by faux-French funsters Fromage En Feu (pictured above). Tickets are only £4 and are available in advance from Sea Breeze in Victoria Street.
On Friday night at The Princess Theatre there’s a special performance by the renowned Urban Folk Quartet, four super-accomplished musicians dealing in folk, roots and even classical, with a great deal of good humour thrown in. Support comes from up-and-coming south-west flute-and-guitar duo Jon Dyer and Alfie Gidley. Tickets, priced £10, are on sale at The Princess on 01278 784464.
On Saturday there’s free live music from 1pm to 11pm at The Ritz, The Princess Theatre, The Victoria Hotel, Royal Clarence Hotel, The Somerset & Dorset and The Waterfront, featuring over 50 acts.
These will include Inc.A (pictured right), Surfin’ Turnips, The Ceili, MOD, Bill Smarme & The Bizness, Jim Crawford, Brad McEwen, The Bara Bara Band, De-Malebysse, Laura Victoria, Helen Nicholson, LightGarden, Cross Border and In The Milkwood, as well as such local favourites as The Winkers, Vermin, Driftwood and Rustique.
There’ll also be shanty singalongs with Vagrants Crew, a uke-along with Carpe Uke, official sessions with Martin Hughes and unofficial performances in the Princess Theatre Bar and Cafe and Mr Bean’s during the day.
Elsewhere, there will also be a street market from 10am to 5pm in the High Street plus traditional dancing outside the Baptist Church from 11am till 2.30pm and storytelling with fairy Hazel Lloyd at the public library at 11.15am.
KidZone at the Baptist Church (pictured) will have craft fun from 12.30pm till 4.30pm, including a Punch & Judy show at 1pm and a Mermaids, Princess & Pirates show at 3pm.
Also at the Baptist Church there’ll be free workshops with folksinging with Laura Victoria at 1pm: Blues Guitar with Jim Crawford at 2pm: Ukulele with Carpe Uke at 3pm, and Meet The Artist with Brad McEwen at 4pm where you can chat with Brad about Canadian and British folk, Canada itself, the history and practice of the cittern and even the Meaning of Life. Throughout the day the amazing Higher Beings will be performing on the streets as stiltwalkers and living statues.
On Sunday, the action moves to Burnham’s Manor Gardens where there’ll be a traders market, KidZone, burgers, ice cream and bar. Musical performers will be Steve James at 1pm; Sun Dog Days at 2pm; local stars Fallen Apples at 3pm; brilliant folk duo The Drystones at 4pm; and the wonderfully colourful bhangra band RSVP at 5pm.
Folkfest Chairman Dom Wills told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Once again, a lot of people have worked really hard to raise the money for Folkfest and we’ve managed to put together another great and varied bill.”
“My personal recommendations would be Inc.A, Laura Victoria, Helen Nicholson and The Bara Bara Band, but really there’s something for everyone to enjoy. It should be another cracking weekend.”
More details can be found in the official Folkfest programme, now available to buy from participating venues, as well as Sea Breeze and Hurleys. You can also download a schedule by clicking here.
