Lineup 2022
7 Days. 20 events. 40 acts. Over 100 artists, musicians and speakers. Scroll for info about all the acts.
All show times are also listed here and on our Facebook events page. Pick up a flyer or programme from venues around Folkestone or download the full programme or summary schedule.
Sam Lee
Sam Lee is a Mercury Prize-nominated and BBC Folk Award-winning singer, conservationist and curator. Trained in fine art but with a lifelong passion for wilderness studies and nature connection, Sam is a folk music specialist dedicated to collecting, sharing and interpreting ancient oral music from Britain and Ireland. He has combined these interests through his ‘Singing with Nightingales’ annual springtime concert series. His singing has been heard in films and TV shows, from Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword to Peaky Blinders. Sam was musical director for the RSPB’s 2019 Top 20 birdsong single, ‘Let Nature Sing’ and his 2020 album Old Wow garnered five-star reviews. He has lectured at Goldsmiths, SOAS and Oxford University and was the first folk singer to teach at the Royal College of Music.
Folkestone Quarterhouse 26/03 9PM, MUSIC FROM 5:15PM - [TICKETS]“A dazzling fusion of nature and song… Lee’s rich baritone voice carries the imprint of folk past…” The Observer
“Folk Tradition brought brilliantly up to date… Lee sings with a quality of understatement that nevertheless conjures intense emotional presence… Lee is an exquisite vocalist” The Telegraph
Rachel Sermanni
Rachel Sermanni is a Scottish based singer-songwriter that makes the mundane moments mystical: shock-positive pregnancy tests in train-station toilets, coffee machine breakages, cold river swims, the regret of not saying ‘I love You', the moon & how it pulls, bare feet on wood floors, the soft glow of a house plant, ‘what even is consciousness?’, strange dreams lingering in quiet mornings…
She brims with dreamy indie-folk pop that speak of the struggle and desire to Flow, to love, to live, to feel. Sometimes, her songs speak of the rare moments of quiet-still, found in the midst of this struggle & desire.
Rachel is a Jellyfish. Surrendering to the currents of the big sea.
Folkestone Quarterhouse 26/03 8PM, MUSIC FROM 5:15PM - [TICKETS]“One of Scotland’s finest songwriters” The Scottish Sun
London Contemporary Voices
LCV Choir is one of the UK’s leading modern choirs, covering a wide range of contemporary classical, folk and popular music. The choir is known for its clean sound, its versatility and its imaginative approach to musical programming. LCV was first founded in 2010 by artists Anil Sebastian and Didier Rochard and has gone on to work with hundreds of artists, including 22 Grammy nominees. The choir has featured on three UK top ten albums, as well as on Imogen Heap's Grammy-nominated soundtrack to Harry Potter & The Cursed Child. Their popular videos have amassed millions of YouTube hits, including their acoustic Mahogany Session with Amber Run.
Folkestone Quarterhouse 26/03 6:15PM, MUSIC FROM 5:15PM - [TICKETS]“The effect that London Contemporary Voices have when they sing on anything is absolutely spine-tingling" Edith Bowman, Virgin Radio UK
“Simply stunning” Marie Anne Hobbs, BBC 6 Music
Anna Phoebe
Anna Phoebe is an award-winning violinist and composer working on cross-genre solo and collaborative projects. Anna’s latest album Sea Souls is a rich musical palette inspired by the natural world, exploring the dialogue between the sea and inner psyche. It has received widespread radio support, including from BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 6 Music.
Recent collaborations include co-writes with Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement recipient Nitin Sawhney CBE on his album Immigrants, released in March 2021 on Sony Masterworks; and recordings with legendary musician and TV personality Jools Holland for his forthcoming solo album on Warner Music.
Anna’s latest commissions include work for the European Space Agency to write music to Earth Observation Data tracking the climate crisis.
Folkestone Quarterhouse 26/03 7PM, MUSIC FROM 5:15PM - [TICKETS]“Anna Phoebe is unclassifiable. And superbly talented. And an artist without limits. And political... Female artistic outliers like her shatter social constructions and garner huge popularity and praise. It unsettles austere rule- keepers and/or men who are insecure about their own masculinities.” From Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s 2020 book Ladies Who Punch
Martha Tilston
The daughter of two celebrated folk musicians, Martha Tilston is a well-established name on the contemporary folk scene. Her albums have addressed political, environmental and everyday themes, including corporate rule and the deadliness of office life. Her song “The Saddest Game”, about child soldiers in Africa, featured on The Big Issue’s Peace Not War record. Much of Martha’s work is not political, focusing instead on personal freedom, love, inner peace and the natural world. She has recently written, directed and starred in her debut feature film, ‘The Tape’ with the accompanying soundtrack album out now.
Folkestone Quarterhouse 26/03 6:15PM, MUSIC FROM 5:15PM - [TICKETS]“Modern folk songs about love and payday loans… brilliant.” The Guardian
Rihab Azar
Syrian oud virtuoso Rihab Azar was born in the Syrian city Homs to a musical family. Her father made her first oud and started teaching her when she was 7 years old. In 2014, She became the first woman oudist to perform accompanied by the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music. She has performed at iconic spaces in the UK and abroad such as the Royal Opera House, Barbican Centre, Southbank Centre and Wigmore Hall. Rihab has been increasingly writing original music for solo oud and various interdisciplinary contexts combining visual arts, story telling, theatre and radio.
Church of St Mary & St Eanswythe 25/03, DOORS 6:30PM, CONCERT 7PM-8:30PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR“Infinitely tender and haunting.” The Arts Desk
Mobius Loop
Gloriously eccentric gypsy folk band Mobius Loop create philosophical folk stories, fusing world music and conscious rap with eruptions of free-form dance. Mobius Loop are on a mission to raise positive vibrations, projecting an organic co-operative voice for humanist spirituality, vegan philosophy, grassroots philanthropy, true democracy and alchemical magic, in the name of the Hemp Redemption and the infinite unknown. Mobius Loop began on 08/08/08 in Preston (Lancashire) inspired by a 950ft crop circle created on this date by an anonymous artist(s). The Mobius Loop is a spiritually significant symbol of balance and union.
The Chambers 25/03, 9:30PM-10:30PM, Doors 8:30PM, support from Milkweed - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR“Charged with an intimately powerful and intense energetic live performance.” Blog Preston
Sam Brookes
Sam Brookes’ soaring, multi-octave voice – often compared to Tim Buckley – stands as one of the most expressive instruments in British music. Folk-meets-jazz twisting and turning at the outer reaches of the singer-songwriter role, his music is confessional in the most explicit way. Sam’s new album ‘Black Feathers’ is as honest as it gets - he has been down into the depths, only to re-emerge with a firm fixation on the beauty and light that can be found in the everyday. He’s been pushed through grief, loss, and heartbreak, using music as a tool to piece himself back together, and to find a forward path.
The Clearing, Folkestone Quarterhouse 23/03, 8PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT, REGISTRATION REQUIRED [TICKETS]. Event starts 6:30pm.
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“The guitar playing is exquisite, the vocals sublime. As a singer and songwriter, Sam Brookes is already entering the highest echelons. He is a national treasure.” Folk Radio
Maddie Morris
Maddie Morris is a contemporary, political folk singer from Leeds, who uses her music to engage audiences and open discussion around various forms of social exclusion. Maddie's music embodies 'the personal is political’, and is heavily influenced by traditional protest song. In 2019 Maddie was awarded the BBC Radio 2 young Folk award, before graduating from Leeds Conservatoire with the Peter Roberts CBE Memorial Prize for the highest undergraduate result in the Leeds City Region. Folk singer Jim Moray describes Maddie as "leading the next generation of political songwriters."
UCA Brewery Tap Project Space 27/03 7PM-8PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR. Music all afternoon from 3PM.“Truly distinctive soulful voice and a disarming and brave songwriter” Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2
Yugal Gurung
Yugal Gurung is a London-based singer songwriter who was raised in Nepal. His distinctive style of laid-back, dream-like music fuses folk, soul, indie-pop and rock. Having performed with various bands in his early days as a drummer, artists such as Bill Withers, John Martyn and Nick Drake hugely influenced Yugal's journey into song-writing and singing and he is now considered a unique talent in the Nepali music diaspora. He has mostly self-produced his collections of songs, with EP release "Afno Sansaar" and album "Lukamari".
Folkestone Quarterhouse 26/03, 5:30PM - [TICKETS]“A hint of jazz, folk and soul with some low-fi vibes” Online Khabar
Wolf’s Head & Vixen Morris Dancers
Wolf’s Head and Vixen Morris are a Border Morris side. This is the most primitive and arguably the most exhilarating of the Morris dancing styles. It is traditionally distinguished by the tattered rag jackets and sticks of the dancers. Wolf’s Head and Vixen go one further by dressing all in black. They dance to a variety of traditional and original tunes, with a Gothic feel and a mesmerising drumbeat.
Folkestone Harbour Arm 26/03, 2PM - FREE PUBLIC PERFORMANCE
Post Workers Theatre
Autohoodening Procession
Autohoodening is a consciousness-raising custom for the age of Platform Capitalism, a collaborative response to a midwinter custom dating back over 200 years. Hoodening was originally performed by farm labourers in East Kent who paraded with a horse effigy in a carnivalesque satire of their working reality during the fallow season of winter. Autohoodening reimagines this custom for the age of automation, updating the characters, costumes, and performance to draw attention to the horrifying working conditions hidden behind consumer-facing infrastructure and the ease of ‘one-click’ delivery. Surveillance technology has become the evil antagonist, and fulfilment centre workers protagonists in a contemporary folk story of death and resurrection.
Begun in 2019, Autohoodening is a collaborative project by Post Workers Theatre, Infinite Opera, James Frost and Lottie Wood.
Folkestone Harbour Arm 26/03, 1:30PM FREE PUBLIC PERFORMANCE
Green Diesel
Hailing from Faversham, folk-rock band Green Diesel take their inspiration from the depths of English folk lore and legend, and the classic folk rock sound of their predecessors Fairport Convention and The Albion Band. Blending violin, mandolin, dulcimer and accordion with electric guitars and drums, Green Diesel’s sound is born from a love of traditional English music and a desire to bring it to a modern audience.
UCA Brewery Tap Project Space 27/03, 5PM-5:30PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR. Music all afternoon.“A band with roots deep in the native soil, playing their own electric interpretations of ancient English music and crafting originals that fit seamlessly alongside the traditional tracks” Shindig!
Emily Hanna (Dragonfly Tales)
Storyteller, writer and singer Emily Hanna leads Words In The Water - twisted folktales and sumptuous songs from the rivers, lakes and seas. Emily is a professional storyteller and singer from North London. As the child of Irish tellers and folk singers, Emily has been telling stories and singing songs since she was very small. She grew up believing there were fairies in the forest, selkies in the sea and angels in the air. Emily has a rich background in folk tales and songs, myths, legends and fairy tales, which she skilfully brings to life through the ancient art of oral storytelling. Emily and her young son Leo host a popular children’s podcast series, Dragonfly Tales, providing free stories for families.
UCA Brewery Tap Project Space 27/03, 1PM-2:30PM with short interval. Seated event. PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR - REGISTRATION REQUIRED [TICKETS]“An absolute MUST SEE! Magical, heartbreaking, hilarious - Emily is a master storyteller!!” Audience
Lunatraktors [POSTPONED DUE TO SICKNESS - GET WELL SOON!]
Margate’s ‘broken folk’ duo rework traditional music with influences from post-punk, trip-hop and queer cabaret. Lunatraktors strip folk down to its bare bones to raise the spirits, mixing tonal percussion, tap-dance and harmonic singing with whistles, drones and analogue synth. MOJO Top Ten Folk Albums of 2019 and 2021.
UCA Brewery Tap Project Space 24/03, 8:30PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR. Event starts 7PM.“★★★★ – A sparse, bravely original style” Songlines
Anil Sebastian
Folkestone-based artist Anil Sebastian is a multifaceted musician, producer and creative director and a familiar face to many as co-founder and director of London Contemporary Voices Choir. Following their acclaimed debut album Mesonoxian, Anil featured on legendary Björk/Madonna producer Guy Sigsworth’s debut Stet alongside Imogen Heap and Martin Grech. Much of Anil’s work explores documentation of the human experience and the future of this. In 2020, Anil Sebastian’s immersive short film Daffodil exploring AI, grief and consciousness was released on NOWNESS. Anil is currently collaborating with Ai-Da, the first ever humanoid robot performance artist for their second film. From soundtracking the BEPI Colombo Mercury Mission (European Space Agency) to embarking on a 3 year research partnership with University of Sheffield about AI and Sonic Branding, the breadth of Sebastian’s work is unique. Indeed, recent commissions have included a water ballet for Loomaland’s Robot Swans (Submerge Festival) as well working with young people from Kent Refugee Action Network to welcome War Horse creators' refugee puppet Little Amal to the UK - garnering wide spread coverage and acclaim in all major UK newspapers. Anil is also the Co-Founder and Director of Trans Voices - the UK's first ever professional trans+ choir, debuting in February 2022 with a specially commissioned music documentary on Guardian Films. Anil’s appearance at FolkeFest is a rare opportunity to see some folk and future-folk inspired material.
UCA Brewery Tap Project Space 24/03, 7PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR“We cannot stop being impressed with their capabilities.” Noctis
Freya Lily
Freya Lily is a genre-spanning musician from Devon, now based in London. She works across folk music, instrumental piano and electronic music, and composing/arranging for choir. With regular support from BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio Devon, Freya has played venues including Bush Hall, Green Note and How The Light Gets In festival, as well as performing with choir backing from London Contemporary Voices at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (Southbank Centre). As a founding member of LCV Choir she has also enjoyed singing backing vocals for numerous artists including The Staves, Imogen Heap, Laura Mvula, Orlando Weeks and Alev Lenz.
Church of St Mary & St Eanswythe 25/03, DOORS 6:30PM, CONCERT 7PM-8:30PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR“Just stunning. It gave me chills” BBC Radio Devon
Finn Collinson
Folk recorder player Finn Collinson has rapidly been gaining a reputation as one of the foremost exponents of his instrument on the English folk scene, performing at major folk clubs and festivals including The Sidmouth Folk Festival, Broadstairs Folk Week and FolkEast, and being shortlisted for the BBC Young Folk Award in 2018. His critically-acclaimed solo debut ‘Call To Mind’ was released in 2019, and was described by FATEA as “a work of true quality”. Finn’s solo gigs feature instrumental tunes and songs, both self-composed and traditional in origin, all tied together with fascinating stories of his instruments and music. A performance with Finn Collinson enthrals with its musical energy and diversity.
The Clearing, Folkestone Quarterhouse 26/03, 5:15PM - [TICKETS]“A folk recorder pioneer” The Recorder Magazine
Helen Davison Performance Art plus Local Foreigner & Harry Winstanley
Performance artist Helen Davison’s practice occupies the moments where communication fails. By exploring live vocal sounds in conjunction with materials and in response to sites of architectural, ecological and socio-historic interest, they seek to share experiences of the queer(ed) body. They use the palpability of the voice and resonances of the body to find moments of connection outside of their self, with a desire to reach cathartic transformation by yielding to chaos and entanglement to find agency. RCA alumni Helen has presented work nationally and internationally and is a founding member of SITE (2018 - present): an initiative inviting performance artists to collaborate on site specific performances and actions. Helen draws from their experience of working with choirs and vocalists to delivers experimental vocalisation workshops ‘Chora’ for people interested in finding ways to connect with their voice and expand their vocal sound practice.
DIY4Folke 25/03, 5PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR. Followed by an experimental performance from artist Local Foreigner and flautist Harry Winstanley.
Shovel Dance Collective
A group of nine musicians exploring the folk traditions of these islands (and beyond). Nurturing the history of the source material, they bring sensibilities drawn from drone, improvisation, and metal. In so doing, aiming to uncover proto-feminist narratives and queer histories, and to make heard the voices of the working people that created and create the wealth of the world.
UCA Brewery Tap Project Space 24/03, 7:30PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR. Event starts 7pm.“There is… a thread of exploration of feminist rights, and gender representation, revisiting the traditional canon to both work for today and as indicative representation of how people who were not ‘privileged white men’ suffered in life as in song… Excellent.” Folk Radio
StoryCraft
Inspired by the Folkestone Mermaid, this fun workshop will explore Mer-Folk through story, songs and crafts.
Join crafter and children's illustrator Lemady from Storycraft, for a colourful 1.5 hour workshop and take your Pegdoll Mer-Folk away to play with afterwards.
Suitable for children aged 4-9, all abilities. Children must be supervised by a family member or guardian aged 18+.
There are two sessions available: 9am-10:30am or 11:00am-12:30pm
Please reserve enough spaces for everybody in your party, including adults. Registration is free - Pay What You Want on the door.
DIY4FOLKE 26/03. TWO SESSIONS 9AM-10:30AM or 11AM-12:30PM. REGISTRATION REQUIRED [TICKETS]
Dr Lucy Wright (Talk)
Contemporary folk artist Lucy Wright highlights that customs and traditions continue to inform our sense of self and other, often with agonistic consequences. Traditions are not inherently malignant: they are also heartfelt vehicles of human sociability whose infinite adaptations and calls to action help us punctuate and make sense of time and place. Some of Lucy’s projects interrogate the problematic relationships between folk, nationalism and colonialism. Others deal with the under-representation of women, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities in the existing canon of English folk arts and the need for new, more inclusive traditions for our divided society. Recently, Lucy has been thinking about the relationships between human and plant populations and the interspecies traditions of care required for living together on a dying planet.
The Clearing, Folkestone Quarterhouse 23/03, 6:30PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT, REGISTRATION REQUIRED [TICKETS]. Doors 6:00pm. 
Erin Mansfield
As a trailblazer of contemporary tin whistle and pioneer of modern social folk dance, Erin is a bright new light, stamping her passion and originality onto everything she does. Erin is an accomplished musician, playing a variety of tin/penny whistles, recorders and flutes; as well as the melodeon and vocals. She is also a folk dance caller and was invited to undertake a Traineeship in Country Dancing with the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
The Clearing at Folkestone Quarterhouse 23/03, 7:30PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT, REGISTRATION REQUIRED [TICKETS]. Event starts 6:30pm. “Erin Mansfield encompasses all the vigour and exuberance of young Folk” Folk and Honey
Local Foreigner vs DJHD
Folkestone-based DJ and sound artist Local Foreigner fuses electronica and techno with world sounds and European folk. Local Foreigner will be selecting music from around the corner and from the rest of the world. Expect cumbia, samba, afro-funk, tropical bass, electronic beats, with a special twist of traditional English folk especially for FolkeFest, b2b with new non-binary DJHD. Prepare to dance.
24/03 UCA Brewery Tap Project Space, 9PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR. Event starts 7pm. Doors 6:30pm.“A sonic journey to move our feet” Folkestone Music
Rick Leigh
Combining expansive arrangements with intimate vocal melodies and drawing influence from the Cinematic Orchestra, Moses Sumney and James Blake, Rick Leigh’s latest EP documents themes of vulnerability, openness and new beginnings. Following the life-altering experience of therapy and learning to renavigate his relationship to himself and his body, Rick Leigh’s music is an expression of a process of renewal and the uncertainty and fragility that lies within it. He will be performing an intimate solo set, dusted with electronica. Rick has worked with a string of well-known collaborators as a session musician, musical director and artistic collaborator - such names include Ray Davies, Laura Mvula, Orlando Weeks, Patrick Watson, Jules Buckley, London Contemporary Voices, Denai Moore, Luke Sital-Singh and Eve Owen.
DIY4Folke 27/03, 6:30PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR. Music all afternoon from 2:30pm.
Faultress
Faultress is an electronic artist living in South London. Her music has won her accolades from Clash and Tom Robinson and she has featured on BBC 6 Music numerous times. Her live session of her latest single, Marilyn, featuring on the BBC Introducing home page. Her musical storytelling centres around the female experience of mental health, desire and power. For example, her song Vampires relays her ongoing battle with intermittent anxious depression; the overwhelming consumption of it on the body and mind and then the ease of its disappearance.
DIY4FOLKE 27/03, 3:30PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR. Music all afternoon from 2:30pm 
Billy Boguard
Billy Boguard’s brand of French alt-pop blends imagination, psyche and fantasy that culminate to betray his own feelings - revealing the simple truth of his own private storytelling. A singer-songwriter who writes, plays and sings from the heart.
DIY4Folke 27/03, 2:30PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR.
Feralchild
The afterparty to our headline event at the Quarterhouse. Feralchild is a multidisciplinary creative whose love of music has evolved from DJing into the exploration of the effects of sound as a seminal form of psycho-physical well-being and consciousness transformation. Currently helming secular electronic soundbaths and composing a soundscape dissecting sound and its relation to memories.
26/03 DIY4FOLKE, 10PM-1AM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT on the door.
Freya Ward
Freya Ward is a folk singer-songwriter and multi instrumentalist from Devon. She blends delicate acoustic guitar fingerpicking, with captivating lyrics and beautiful vocals. Since her self-released debut in November 2018 Freya has earned early success, with continued support from BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio, full features in Atwood Magazine, reviews from Fresh on the Net, Americana UK, Indie Band Guru, and over 30,000 Spotify streams for her self-released debut single.
UCA Brewery Tap Project Space 27/03, 6PM-6:30PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR. Music all afternoon from 3pm.“Laura Marling meets Jade Bird” BBC Introducing
“Folk-inspired lyrical content that is an absolute pleasure to listen to” Fresh on the Net
Milkweed
"Stylistically there is some similarity to the slacker end of the early 2000s anti-folk and freak-folk movements and their combination of anti-virtuosity, hyper-creativity and inherent weirdness. Their EP’s opening track, Gods Of The Heathens (an old basque folk carol), combines old-timey banjo picking with background creaks, jingling bells and a Jean Ritchie-esque vocal.... Their mystery is part of their appeal. They seem intent on reviving the more outlandish, eccentric traditions of folk music, where old and new religions intermingle and where strange, bewitching sounds proliferate. This can only be a good thing." Folk Radio UK
The Chambers 25/03, 9PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR. Supporting Mobius Loop. Full house expected - arrive early to avoid disappointment. Doors 8:30pm.
Folkestone Dance: The Journey Is The Map
Join local creative Lucy Thane and colleagues from Folkestone Dance to launch The Journey Is The Map with a special event. The project is a creative conversation journey through Kent towards the Sea; in collaboration with and raising money for Green Kordofan/ Kent residents who are currently refugees: A sponsored procession taking a multiplicity of forms acknowledging disparate access needs and abilities; Incorporating ritual, somatic movement, dance, sound, music, storytelling and discussion exploring and exchanging diverse experiences of “Body” “Kith and Kin” “Home” “Land” “Country” “Earth” with human and more than human communities, land, air and seas we pass through; We will travel with a light portable biodegradable boat into which participants will deposit their stories and dreams and choose their means of transformation.
23/03, gather at Space Bar between 5pm and 5:30pm (the bar and gallery exhibition is open earlier, from 4pm). Event takes place 5:30pm-6pm and is followed by a talk and live music at The Clearing, Folkestone Quarterhouse.
Living Words & The Age Of Artifical Intelligence
with Anil Sebastian
Two short music films, readings and live co-creation
Music Film Premiere: DCCIII by Anil Sebastian. Local musician and producer Anil Sebastian will introduce DCCIII, created in response to a mysterious household god figurine held in The Guildhall Museum, Rochester. The figurine, which is nearly 2000 years old, was used as a sensing object to create the work - thus giving "voice" to its mystical, silent protection.
Music Film Screening 2: Daffodil by Anil Sebastian. AI - erasing or extending Oral Tradition? Anil Sebastian's music film Daffodil raising numerous powerful questions as the world enters the AI and virtual age.
Folkestone based charity Living Words will introduce their work and present some readings, challenging us to think about the power of spoken words and oral traditions as the world enters a new era of technology.
Folklore 22/03, 9PM - 10:30PM. PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR. Doors and social from 8:30PM. Limited capacity - arrive earlier for a good seat and early evening cocktails.
Lorraine Lucas
Psychotherapist by day, troubadour by night Lorraine Lucas writes songs about living on the road - she was a teenage hobo living life at the cliff edge. She shamelessly sings about the good, the bad and the ugly facets of life. Lorraine has produced two albums and is in the latter stages of her third which was
written in collaboration during lockdown. Lorraine curates Folkestone Songwriting Festival and runs community songwriting
group Folkesong.
UCA BREWERY TAP 27/03, 4PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR. Music from 3pm.
Folk Songs & Shanties Workshop with Jack Durtnall
Join Jack Durtnall, a folk musician and nature connection facilitator who, following musical training at Oxford University, has worked with Mercury-prize nominated folk artist Sam Lee and The Nest Collective. Jack’s singing workshop will reveal not only his passion for folk traditions but the way that group singing can weave a strong sense of place and bring people together. Absolutely no prior singing experience is necessary - “have a go” approach! The workshop will be supported by experienced professional singers.
DIY4Folke 27/03, 10:30AM - 12:30PM. PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR. Registration required [Tickets]. Jack will also perform a solo set in the same venue at 5:30PM. Music all afternoon.
MATILDAZ
MATILDAZ are a powerful musical duo. With Matilda on vocals and the evocative guitar of Jackson the pair infuse blues and folk with rock. Now based in Folkestone’s Creative Quarter, the two met at Green Man festival in 2012 and began to collaborate the following year.
They have played at a number of prestigious venues, made festival appearances across the UK and internationally, and featured on both the Introducing Mixtape and After Hours shows with Tom Robinson for BBC 6Music.
Saturday Afternoon Rocks Folk - DIY4Folke, 62 Tontine Street 26/03, 4:30PM-5PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON THE DOOR
The Demon Gin
The Demon Gin is dark folk/cabaret band from the mind of singer songwriter Sinead Hanna, bringing you twisted music, haunting humour & tall tales.
Performing original songs and new arrangements, expect strange stories, bawdy humour and eerie energy.
UCA Brewery Tap Project Space 27/03 PM, 3PM-3:30PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR
The Washed Up Jug Band
Jug (band) music originated in the Kentucky and Tennessee area of the US between 1900 and 1930. It was situated geographically (and musically) between Dixieland jazz to the south west and Old Timey music to the north east. It was played by buskers in the bars of Memphis and Louisville and was popular entertainment on the steamers that plied the Mississippi & Ohio rivers during that period. Rick (washboard and Jug) has been playing jug music since the late 60s. The Washed Up Jug Band formed in 2018 with locals Gideon on harmonica, Dave on Guitar and Chris on banjo. The band performs regularly at a variety of venues around Kent. It’s R&B 1920s style and it’s lots of fun! Come & let your toes do the tapping.
Kipps Alehouse 26/03, 12PM Noon - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR
India Blue
Multi-instrumentalist India Blue is based in St Leonards on Sea. She writes and performs poetic and enchanting alt-folk music with harp, keys, harmonium, ukulele and mandolin. She has previously performed as a support act for Vula Viel at the Folkestone Quarterhouse and is releasing her debut album this spring.
Kipps Alehouse 26/03, 1PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON THE DOOR
Greensand
Greensand is a song-writing duo based near Folkestone. The genre-defying pair draw influences from folk, rock, indie, pop, blues, country, soul and more with their own unique take on melodic guitar based music. Recently released music is available via bandcamp.
DIY4FOLKE 27/03, 4:30PM-5PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR. Music all afternoon from 2:30PM.
Clog Dancing Taster Session (Workshop)
The Arkwrights are based near Dover. Lesley and Banjo Dave perform and teach step/clog dance styles rooted in the British Isles. Join in their fun taster session in clog dancing, a first at Folkfest 2022!
Step/clog dancing, from Lancashire, is a style of 'heel & toe' dance wearing wooden soled shoes. It is at the root of contemporary tap dancing. Way back in the 1800s in the thriving northern cotton mill towns, the rhythms of Irish stepdance in particular influenced Lancashire clog dancing.
There will be a limited range of Clogs to borrow. Please wear hard/smooth soled shoes, not trainers.
UCA Brewery Tap Project Space, Tontine Street 22/03, 10:30AM-11:45AM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON THE DOOR - REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Classical soloists: Lemady, Sarah Rennix, Francis Gush
Three classical soloists perform traditional and classical arrangements of folk songs. Followed by performances from Freya Lily (neo-classical piano) and Rihab Azar (Syrian oud virtuoso).
FRANCIS GUSH: Francis Gush is an English countertenor and graduate of the Royal College of Music.
SARAH RENNIX: Sarah is Belfast born but moved to England in 2003 to read music at the University of Durham. She enjoys touring and performing with a number of professional ensembles.
LEMADY: Named after an old English folk song from Flora Thompson's Larkrise To Candleford, Lemady has had folk music in her blood from a very early age. As a member of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain Lemady performed around the country and has since worked with several prestigious ensembles and artists.
Church of St Mary & St Eanswythe 25/03, DOORS 6:30PM, CONCERT 7PM-8:30PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON DOOR.
Battalion
This high energy Ashford based trio combine alternative indie-folk with Afro influences and rock’n’roll.
Saturday Afternoon Rocks Folk - DIY4Folke, 62 Tontine Street 26/03, 3:15PM-4PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON THE DOOR
Folkestone Puppet Festival
Folkestone Puppet Festival presents: Island Fulk by Andre Verissimo. A folktale(ish) of the British isles history told with objects, toys, newspaper, sound and voice.
DIY4Folke, 25/03 5:30PM. Pay What You Want on the door. Event starts 5PM with Performance Artist Helen Davison.
Jack Durtnall
Jack Durtnall is a London-based musician, performer, singer, songwriter, composer and saxophonist. Jack has worked on many projects across a variety of genres, including working with Sam Lee and The Nest Collective. In 2021 Jack was commissioned to write a composition inspired by the heritage and wildlife of Romney Marsh, which was performed by prestigious groups London Contemporary Voices and The 12 Ensemble. Previously Jack has performed as half of the duo Little Shoes Big Voice, whose music featured on high profile advertising campaigns. Jack also works as a nature connection facilitator..
DIY4Folke, 62 Tontine Street 27/03, 5:30-6PM - PAY WHAT YOU WANT ON THE DOOR
Folkestone Museum Exhibition
Folkestone International Folklore Festival was a largescale event which ran from 1961 to 1989. It was called off in 1991 due to the outbreak of the Gulf War. The public festival attracted traditional folk groups from all over Europe. It was later revived as Folkestone International Folk Arts Society. An archive about the festival was recently donated to Folkestone Museum. A team of FolkeFest volunteers has been working with the museum to create a small display about the old festival for display during FolkeFest week. The archive is such a treasure trove with some absolutely beautiful photographs, materials and costumes.
Folkestone Museum, Exhibition Opens 22/03 from 10:30am. FREE ENTRY.