UK Folk Festivals - Coming Soon

For the 44th time!

The UK's most northerly folk festival. The Festival prides itself in reaching out to even the most far flung areas of Shetland. Concerts are organised throughout the isles, consisting of some of the best International, British and Shetland music that the world has to offer. In fact, visiting artistes are regularly dumbfounded by the quantity and quality of local musicians that our remote isles have to offer.
Nine locations on the island are holding events.

A popular event that slipped off our lists for a few years, but it's back with a great line-up now.

A newish festival, it began in 2017 featuring American Oldtime and Bluegrass festival.
So while not a pure folk festival, it has some America-style folk music. Worth a visit, as it is not exactly expensive especially if you just go for one day.

And when it's big and famous, you can tell your kids you were there at the beginning.

Edinburgh TradFest - Dun Eideann is a vibrant celebration of folk arts celebrating TradFest will include music, song, storytelling, dance, folk drama, arts and crafts, literature, architecture, film and multi-media in the capital city.

Edinburgh's only multi-arts festival is dedicated to traditional culture and folk arts. Features the very best traditional music from Scotland and around the world.

Filey Folk Festival is one of the mainstays of this North Yorkshire seaside town's musical year.
Filey Folk Festival is a *free entry independent folk festival on the North Yorkshire Coast.
*Ticketed evening concerts also available.

With over 100 musicians performing Traditional and Contemporary Folk, Americana, Country, Blues and everything in between!
Also look out for our Singarounds/Sessions plus Open Mic!

The Jack in the Green Festival is an annual event that takes place in various parts of the gorgeous seaside resort that is Hastings. It's a three day event and attracts thousands every year. This is a true British May Day celebration not to be missed. The four day event has been described as 'thee celebration of Morris dancing and traditional merriment, centering on the symbolic figure of Jack in the Green and culminating in a wild costumed parade - one of the most bizarre in Britain.' The long weekend event includes music of all genres from some of the best local and surrounding areas bands, sun, historic and social events, and is filled with family fun.

By now a national institution and an international buzz-phrase among the Americana / Roots movement...Ireland's most compact and hospitable music festival, where virtually everything is low-key but high grade.

Mixture of genres. All forms of music under the Americana/Roots banner are well represented over the four days. Including cajun, folk, blues, etc

Over 80 shows, including 50 free events on the pub gig trail!

Closely following the long-established Eastbourne format, May Heydays offers an enjoyable bank holiday weekend mix of different folk dance traditions from many parts of the world.

We do like to find you something different every now and then..

Scandimoot offers one of the best opportunities you will find in the UK to learn tunes and dances from Scandinavian teachers. Each year we pick exceptional music and dance teachers from Norway and Sweden to come to this small, intimate event in Yorkshire. With such intensive work the standard of both your music and your dancing rapidly improves.

With an interesting line-up, this festival is just 17 miles up the road from Manchester.

The largest Morris based folk festival in the Midlands with Concerts, Ceilidhs, storytelling, plenty of pub sessions for music & song and a huge dance procession on Sunday. Happens every year, first Bank Holiday in May.

54th anniversary!

Since 1972 Wath Festival has been all about great music, community spirit and having a good time.
Some of the biggest names in roots music have played at Wath.
Host of events, with the weekend being the highlight.
Winner "Best Village Festival 2013"
Feata Magazine

Runner up "Festival of the Year 2010" Feata Magazine

Scotland's first sustainable event.

Music, verse and story telling
Concerts - Sessions - Open Stage - Competitions - Workshops - Children's Events- Secure Campsite.

Popular Scottish event, promises to be even bigger than last year.

In its 50th year of existence and still going strong. With a nice redesigned website too.

The Fleadh Cheoil is a week long festival comprised of ceili dancing, music sessions, street entertainment and competitions in music, singing, dancing and storytelling.

Traditional musicians of all ages are invited to gather for the Fleadh Cheoil chorcai 2026.

Four days and nights of the best music you'll hear anywhere, in one of the most beautiful settings on the planet, The Baltimore Fiddle Fair truly is the jewel in the crown of Irish festivals.

Full line-up will be announced on 1st January.

The Fiddle Fair has firmly established itself as one of the premier opportunities to help encourage and develop the talents of budding fiddle players from Ireland and abroad.

Not specifically a folk festival.

This regular event was established to provide the annual new music showcase event for the Welsh Music Industry. Our core work centres around the delivery of our international multi-venue showcase festival taking place in Wrexham each year, which places the music industry spotlight firmly on the emerging talent that Wales has to offer the world, alongside a selection of the best new acts from across the globe.

It is showcasing over 250 acts, so you could browse through the lists and might find some folk music talent. We are hoping we are correct in this.

A nice Scottish Festival, which can sell out quickly due to its popularity.
The first release of tickets last year had sold out by 7th December!

Folk on the Pier is held every year at the Pavilion Theatre on Cromer Pier in Cromer, Norfolk, on England's beautiful east coast. Described by Fairport Convention's Dave Pegg as "the best gig on the North Sea", Folk on the Pier is a highly regarded showcase for the finest folk, and folk-rock acts from the UK and beyond. Details of this year's line-up can be found on the Who's Playing page.

Number 49 !
A weekend of concerts, with ceilidh, folk clubs and Morris dancing. Weekend tickets available via the website. A lot of pubs have free entry music from a very broad definition of "folk". A community town centre festival with something for everyone.

Described by The Times as One of the coolest villages in Britain.
Moniaive probably has more musical events and festivals (per head of population) than anywhere else in the country. And with a sizeable group of traditional musicians living in the village and surrounding countryside, our pub sessions are amongst the finest.
Sessions, piping competitions, workshops, and more.

Experience the Bradford on Avon Green Man Festival, a vibrant, family-friendly community gathering featuring traditional dance, music, song, and folklore throughout the town centre on Saturday 10 May 2025 (9.30am to 6pm). And the best part is, its free!
Witness over 50 dance groups, including 500 dancers and 120 musicians, featuring Morris dancing and diverse European styles.
Join the whimsical journey of our 10ft tall Jack in the Green and Jill in the Green, visiting 12 town centre venues with bands and fantasy beasts.
You'll can also discover the kid's zone, artisan market, community hub, pagan arts and crafts.
Groove to a samba band, mummers' play, Folk Club stage, Wiltshire Music Centre stage, Blues @ The Shoes stage, live pub music, buskers and more!
The full programme is available on the BoA Green Man Festival website: boagreenmanfest.org
The BoA Green Man Festival has something for everyone - so dress up for the day and really get into the swing of things

A festival of traditional music and dance taking place on May 09th in the picturesque town of Whitchurch, Hampshire.

Spread across a dozen local venues

Includes a free fringe music stage and free events and family activities which are open to all (no festival ticket required).

Now in its 14th year.

In aid of Teenage & Young Adult Cancer Care and Brighstone School.

The live music stage will provide a full programme, featuring the best of the Island's Folk & Blues musicians.

A family friendly event including BBQ, Tea Tent, children's activities and Circus Skills. The Wolverton Folk & Blues Fair looks set to be a celebration of all that's good about our Island's local food & music talent.

Always at a bargain price!

Traditional singing showcased.
Several venues.
CDs of previous events available too.

A new event for our listings.
Site not fu;;y updated yet.

Footstompin' bluegrass, soulful americana/folk and outstanding musicianship. Don't miss the 4th annual SpringGrass bluegrass festival at The Vault Arts Centre.

Wood is an award-winning festival of music and nature held in the beautiful Chiltern Hills, Oxfordshire. Alongside a full programme of musical artists on two stages, Wood hosts two days of talks and interviews in Kindling, and runs over 50 workshops and activities across the Workshop Village, the Teen Tent, and the Kids Tent. We hope you can join us and be a part of our mission to connect with nature and build community through music and the arts.

We think this on is on, but it said "planning"

A words and music festival with a very interesting lineup. It's a sister festival to Words & Music. Celebrating folk, roots and even Americana, with international names turning up.

If you can get there, I'm sure you will enjoy it!

But the website doesn't make clear the start and finish dates - so you will have to contact them. Or scroll down to see the tickets section and the dates.

A multi-award winning creative and performing arts festival set in the beautiful grounds of Catton Hall in the heart of the National Forest.
The Midlands largest performing and creative arts festival.

Includes some folk bands.

Winner of several festival awards over recent years.

A new one for us.

The festival will be held at 4 venues across the idyllic village of Hutton Rudby in May. Finn Forster, Black Sheep Band, Counterfeit Celts and Keith Newby will be part of the line-up for this festival among many others. A craft fair will feature on the Saturday.

In addition to music acts, there will be a folk craft fair, several bars / pubs with food and music and a large family style event at our Cricket Club venue.

The World Ceilidh melds together the most ancient roots music with the latest cutting edge sounds. This first truly backwoods upland music fest in Scotland hosts some of the best musicians and performers from across the world. All are invited to journey over hill and dale by rock and stream to our natural greenfield auditorium and to our upland stage to experience the biggest little festival this side of anywhere!

Concerts, ceilidhs, dances, clubs and sessions.

The Orkney Folk Festival is widely regarded as one of the most prolific and special throughout Scotland, the UK and further afield.

The three venues that are used the most are the Stromness Town Hall, the Stromness Academy Lecture Theatre and the Stromness Hotel's function room. Other events take place in local community centres/village halls.

Site not fully updated on our last visit, but it does say it's on in 2026.

Concerts, Ceilidhs, workshops, singarounds, sessions, displays, craft fair, family events, children's entertainment.

This is a very popular long-running event.

Also has an event in February

One of the liveliest festivals in the Southwest when the whole town comes alive with music, dance and colour.

Over 200 artists confirmed across 6 venues and every town centre street. Weekend tickets and camping available.

A mixed festival, at previous events there was a strong bias for folk music on the Friday. so take a look closer to the date to see if this happens this year.

Workshops, Battle of the Bands, local brews, family entertainment. Three stages, with one dedicated to acoustic music.

Fishguard's Folk Festival brings together its unique mix of local talent and well-known performers to provide four days of songs, tunes and dance. Most events are still free, and whether you want to play, sing, dance or just watch and listen, there is always a choice of things to do in throughout this fun-packed friendly festival. Add in the beauty of the location on the world famous Pembrokeshire coast and you have the perfect weekend.

New to our lists this year. But it's been around since 2019 as far as we can tell, but covid meant it disappeared for a couple of years, of course, before returning in 2023.

It says it is a folk-rock festival. But has had some well known names at previous events.

The world's largest festival of philosophy and music is back - HowTheLightGetsIn returns to Hay-On-Wye

Amongst the beautiful Black Mountains, you'll find the world's leading thinkers debating today's biggest ideas, as well as a spectacular array of musicians and performers.

Across 300+ events, we'll bring together superstar philosophers, trailblazing scientists, award-winning writers, and political giants to tackle the most pressing issues of our times. Join discussions designed to push the limits of what you know with speakers hand-picked for their creativity and insight.

Bills itself as a European version of TED

Site not fully updated on our last visit.

One of the finest places to appreciate our rich tradition of music, song, verse, drama and story, and, at the same time, enjoy listening to, or using, the broad 'Doric' language which is still very much alive here in the North East, and enjoy a friendly family atmosphere where contestants have come from a' the airt's and pairt's o' Scotland and sometimes beyond.

A bit like the Irish festivals that are competitions.

40th Anniversary !
Uses several locations on the island.

Has it's own website now (previously we linked to a site which regularly talked about it and the island in general).

Mixes folk and whisky on an island well-known for both. And it's a very pretty island. With Concerts and Ceilidhs, usually.

Make sure you find your accommodation as it can be a busy event.

There are many Irish traditional festivals organised throughout the summer months but there are few people who will dispute that Fleadh Nua which started in Dublin in 1970, is the forerunner of them all.

Bringing together concerts, music, song and dancing workshops, street entertainment, pageants/parades and much more.

Back for it's second year.

This year, apart from another 12 hours of back to back folk music starting at 11am across multiple stages on the May bank holiday weekend, there will be beer from the farm brewery, multiple food outlets, camping, arts and crafts and a new soapbox stage for established and aspiring musicians alike. The lineup will be announced in full in April.

An annual celebration of music and arts in the beautiful landscape of the three northernmost Yorkshire Dales - Swaledale, Wensleydale and Arkengarthdale.

A music festival that brings a heady mix of concerts to chapels and churches, village halls and pubs, castles and barns in the glorious northern Yorkshire Dales. And talks; and exhibitions; and guided walks...

A mixture of music styles, includes acoustic and folk.

Spurred on by their love of folk music and outdoor activity, and seeing potential in a farm not used to it's full potential, 20 - 30 vounteers came together on the farm to begin the journey of a big tidy up and clear out.

Through the efforts of countless volunteers and 5 festivals, we can safely say that our aims to renovate and maintain the farm have been a success. There is still work to be done, and still ideas to be brought to fruitition. It's an annual small gathering of the finest folk musicians in the world.

A country and western festival in Scotland? Well if it's good fun, what's the problem.

If the web link fails (it did for us), go to this Facebook page, where we found most of the details.

Keslo C+W
But the latest info is tricky to find.

There's also an October event most years.

A mixed styles event, covering Cajun, Soul, Rock + Roll, Blues, Roots and Country. We have a policy of including some random events with some music that could be considered as folkish, and several of the above do meet our rules.

Celebrating its 11th year. So must be good.

A comeback event.

A festival for fans of piping.

With concerts, dances and workshops, manufacturers, and sessions. Everything the bagpipe fan would want, in one place.

Site not fully updated for this year.

20th birthday.
A multi-media festival, covering a variety of styles, includes several groups popular at folk festivals. Take a look at the band list as there are a variety of genres at this festival.

Over 100 bands on four stages, and real ale festival too.

Includes dance, sessions, celidh, workshops, and music, all set in the delightful surroundings of Weymouth's old harbour

With over 30 live stage performances throughout Saturday and Sunday this is without doubt not one to be missed!
Kicking off on Friday afternoon and evening with singalong folk music sessions in the harbourside pubs, the main festival lasts the whole of Saturday and Sunday with around 30 Morris sides dancing in the streets along the harbourside, fabulous trade stalls, eating, drinking, laughing singing and dancing all weekend long. When the harbour lights go on, the fun and music carries on in the harbourside pubs, way into the night. The challenge is to do the whole weekend and make it to the Survivors' Night on Sunday night at the Sailor's Return!