The Beverley Folk Festival is a three-day celebration of

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, art, comedy and spoken word held in

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

, England. It was first organised in 1983 by the White Horse Folk Club and grew considerably over thirty years, being located both at Beverley Leisure Centre and at local venues in the town. In 2013, it moved to

Beverley Racecourse Beverley Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in the town of Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Racing in Beverley can be documented as far back as over 300 years ago, and the founding of The Jockey Club i ...

and ran until 2018 when it fell into liquidation, resulting in a smaller programme of events being hosted in the town as Beverley Fringe Festival that year. It returns in 2022 again as the Folk Festival.

History

Beverley has always had a vibrant local music scene, and particularly acoustic/folk; much of which can be attributed to the long-standing annual Folk festival.. Established in 1983, the festival was originally organised by the White Horse Folk Club. Over the years it grew steadily in size and became based at Beverley Leisure Centre, with the venue hosting the main stage, with further music and craft tents on the adjacent site along with the campsite. Nearby pubs in the town including the Sun Inn and Tiger Inn also hosted live music, and the town centre various fringe events. Songwriter and radio broadcaster

Mike Harding Mike Harding (born 23 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, author, poet, broadcaster and multi-instrumentalist. Harding has also been a photographer, traveller, filmmaker and playwright. Early life and education Harding's ...

, and playwright and dramatist

John Godber John Harry Godber (born 18 May 1956) is known mainly for observational comedies. The ''Plays and Players Yearbook'' of 1993 rated him the third most performed playwright in the UK after William Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn. He has been cre ...

are among the festival patrons. Past line-ups have ranged from folk legends such as

The Watersons The Watersons were an English folk group from Hull, Yorkshire. They performed mainly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment. Their distinctive sound came from their closely woven harmonies. They have been called the "most famous fam ...

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...

Oysterband Oysterband (originally The Oyster Band) is a British folk rock and folk punk band formed in Canterbury around 1976. History Early history The band formed in parallel to Fiddler's Dram, and under the name "Oyster Ceilidh Band" played purely as ...

Ralph McTell Ralph McTell (born Ralph May, 3 December 1944) is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s. McTell is best known for his song " Streets of London" (19 ...

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...

, and the

Peatbog Faeries The Peatbog Faeries are a largely instrumental Celtic fusion band. Formed in 1991, they are based in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Their music embodies many styles and influences, including folk, electronica, African pop, rock and ...

, to

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

Barbara Dickson Barbara Ruth Dickson (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish singer and actress whose hits include 'I Know Him So Well', 'Answer Me' and 'January February'. Dickson has placed fifteen albums on the UK Albums Chart from 1977 to date, and had a n ...

and

The Proclaimers ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

. Contemporary performers have included

Levellers The Levellers were a political movement active during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populis ...

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enou ...

Seth Lakeman Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. Ac ...

Bellowhead Bellowhead is an English contemporary folk band, active from 2004 to 2016, reforming in 2020. The eleven-piece act played traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide range of musical style ...

Eliza Carthy Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, MBE (born 23 August 1975) is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing the fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson. Life and care ...

and

Blackbeard's Tea Party Blackbeard's Tea Party are a contemporary folk rock band based in York, England. The five-piece band plays a mix of traditional folk songs as well as covers of more recent songs from the folk genre. They are also known for their instrumental arr ...

. Outside the realms of mainstream folk music, headliners have ranged from Joe Brown to

Paul Carrack Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

. The festival was run on a

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

basis and managed by a board of volunteer directors with volunteers involved across all areas of the festival.

Racecourse (2013–2018)

In 2013, the festival moved to

and expanded during the next five years. The Racecourse site included: ''The Festival Village'' (food and craft stalls and open-air performances), ''Main Stage Marquee (The Big Top)'' (large marquee hosting festival headliners, with a capacity of over 1000), ''Concert Marquee (The Little Top)'' (smaller marquee showcasing new and old artists), ''The Atom'' (venue hosting the Late Night and Moonbeams Sessions, beer tent and improvised music), ''The Racecourse Rooms'' (main Grandstand function rooms/bars hosting talks, open music sessions, The Westwood Sessions and comedy, drama and talks), and ''Children’s Marquee'' (running arts, crafts and music for children). Alongside the Racecourse site continued the ''Fringe Festival'', in and around Beverley Market Place and pubs. In April 2018, it was suddenly announced that the years festival would be cancelled, citing the loss of its primary source of funding as the reason for its cancellation. The company was placed into immediate voluntary liquidation.

Fringe festival (2018)

Within hours of the news emerging of the cancellation of the 2018 festival, organisers involved in Fringe Festival events announced their intention to host an enlarged fringe to fill the void. Reflecting very much the festival origins and roots, a reformed and expanded Fringe Festival ran over the planned three days with performances at venues including The Tiger, Sun Inn and Monks Walk public houses, Memorial Hall, East Riding Theatre, as well in and around the town centre.

Return of the folk festival (2022)

The festival took place in 2022 (having adopted the Beverley Folk Festival name) at venues across the town including St Mary's Church, East Riding Theatre, Waffle21, The Masonic Hall, The Sun Inn, The Monks Walk, St Nicholas Church, and the streets of Beverley. Headline acts included The Trials of Cato, The Brothers Gillespie, Iona Lane, and Henry Parker.

References

External links

Beverley Folk Festival website
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