The Ham Marquee evening programme is complete… and what a corker! Ireland’s finest, Dervish plus The Voice Squad come together in a dream double-header to add the finishing touches to a mighty series of events featuring the very best in the world of folk and roots.
Ham evening concerts:
Fri 3rd Show of Hands with Miranda Sykes plus Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin
Sat 4th Dervish plus The Voice Squad
Sun 5th Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker & John Doyle plus Michael Marra
Mon 6th Norma Waterson & Eliza Carthy with The Gift Band plus Finest Kind
Tues 7th Spiers & Boden
Weds 8th Martin Simpson Trio with Special Guests including June Tabor, Jon Boden and Fay Hield
Thurs 9thJune Tabor & Oysterband
Fri 10th Donal Lunny, Padraig Rynne & Sylvain Barou
The venue to be for wild roots dance parties and high-energy fun…
Young Scottish upstarts Rura add their punch-packing wall of pipes, whistle, flute, fiddle, bodhran and guitar to the uproarious celebratory noise of Treacherous Orchestra on Tuesday night for some traditional North of the border dance mayhem.
News From Song Venues
Ahoy there, the “biggest buoy band” in the West, The Exmouth Shanty Men bring their rambunctious nautical songs to the Manor Pavilion. Take That Me Hearties!
Some big vocal sounds fill Methodist Church including the exquisite harmonies of Canada’s Finest Kind, powerful acappella youth choir Stream Of Sound, the Somerset Young Folk Musicians and Sheffield’s popular Crucible Trio. Revellion bring us European roots music from down the ages played with cutting-edge verve and style in From East Of The Sun & West Of The Moon.
All this plus recent additions Magpie Lane with Tinker, Tailor, Beggarman, Thief at The Manor Pavilion. Sisters Unlimited celebrating Sandra Kerr’s 70th birthday in style and launch their new cd 'No Change of Heart'; Eddie Upton revelling in a Celebration Of South West Song; Tim Laycock & Colin Thompson’s country dance-based Benjamin’s Book; Lauren McCormick’s new CD showcase and a Spotlight On Scotland concert with fast-rising stars Rua Macmillan and Ewan McLennan.
fRoots magazine’s editor Ian Anderson hosts a series of afternoon concerts in the funky cellar bar at Kennaway House featuring music from beyond the mainstream. Already on the bill, the mighty lungs of Naomi Bedford, the wonderfully dark-crafted folk of Telling The Bees, charming Jonny Kearney & Lucy Farrell, Sussex’s quirky Duck Soup, Nova Scotian banjo songster Old Man Luedecke, The False Beards and more to come.
Intimate evening concerts at the Kennaway feature John Doyle, Jon Boden, Debby McClatchy, Otis Gibbs and John Kirkpatrick and more.
The Arts Centre hosts the Festival Folk Club with special guests and plenty of performance opportunities for singers and musicians alike.
Traditional Nights Out at The Woodlands Hotel are hosted by John Howson, Dan Quinn and Peta Webb & Ken Hall. Invited guests include The Voice Squad’s Phil Callery, Peter & Barbara Snape, Jeff Wesley, Len Graham, Jack Lynch, Joe Aitken, Geordie Murrison, Simon Ritchie, Racker Donnelly, Will Duke, Maz O’Connor, Jerry O’Reilly and Katie’s Quartet.
Workshops Wowzers…
A veritable playground of workshops is on offer for musicians with Festival Concert Band with John Kirkpatrick, Big Band returning with Nick & Mary Barber, fiddle with Kirsty Cotter, bodhran with Will Lang, melodeon with Ed Rennie, country dance tunes with Tim Laycock & Colin Thompson, Scan Tester tunes with Will Duke, guitar with Gavin Davenport, ukulele with Clive Harvey, spoons with Jo May, Eastern European fiddle tunes with Lebedek, instrumental arrangements with Pete Coe. Enough already? Well, just add accordion, concertina, banjo, ceilidh band, harmonica and more to the brew!
Singers can get their chops around the Festival Choir with Sandra Kerr, Big Sings with the fairly spooky Stephen Taberner, West Gallery Country Carols, Shapenote, Harmony, Political Songs and song workshops and presentations led by Len Graham, Fay Hield, Peta Webb, Ken Hall and Lester Simpson.
A double-header made in heaven – Dervish plus The Voice Squad – completes our evening concert line up at the Ham Marquee.
Ireland’s finest, Dervish, blend invigorating tunes with the spellbinding vocals of Cathy Jordan, whose new solo album All the Way Home has been described as “absolutely beautiful” by BBC Radio 2’s Mike Harding. Complemented only further by the appearance of the wonderful traditional Irish singers Gerry Cullen, Phil Callery and Fran McPhail in The Voice Squad in a much-anticipated reunion.
The BIG news for storming Bulverton roots parties is line-up addition of outrageously big noise from north of the Border, supergroup Treacherous Orchestra. Their new CD Origins has been described as a ‘blistering, swaggering and infectious affair’ ***** Songlines
Jim Moray’s Silent Disco, the perenially-popular floor-filling phenomena, hits the decks for the late Sunday night slot.
Oxfordshire folk band Magpie Lane present Tinker, Tailor, Beggarman, Thief at The Manor Pavilion. 
Sisters Unlimited join forces to celebrate Sandra Kerr’s 70th birthday in style, with a special concert; Eddie Upton hosts a Celebration Of South West Song; Tim Laycock and Colin Thompson present their show, Benjamin’s Book, based on the story of Dorset farmer Benjamin Rose’s country dance tunebook; songstrel Lauren McCormick showcases her new album and a Spotlight On Scotland concert features talented rising stars Rua Macmillan and Ewan McLennan.
Ian Anderson, editor of fRoots magazine, hosts a series of afternoon concerts in the funky cellar bar at Kennaway House featuring emerging and leftfield artists including his very own The False Beards duo with multi-instrumentalist Ben Mandelson.
Intimate evening concerts at the Kennaway feature class acts John Doyle, Jon Boden, Debby McClatchy, Otis Gibbs and John Kirkpatrick among others.
Ceilidh Bands
With yet more to come, English String Band and Katie’s Quartet add their weight to an already hefty crack team of surefire dance-floor fillers in our ceilidh programme.
Social Dance Whirl
Our brand new, state of the art evening venue at Stowford Rise Community Centre is this year’s added bonus for social dancers. Malcolm Storey is busily creating a packed programme of dances and workshops with more names to be added shortly to our existing roster of Playford, American, Irish Set, Contra and much more. Already on the list: Andrew Shaw, Joe Hodgson, Madeleine Smith, Jerry O’Reilly, Rod & Frances Stradling, Paul Hutchinson, Stick The Fiddle, Masquerade, Mollie Koenigsberger, Mike Courthold, Lynne Render, Nigel Close, Frances Oates and Chris Turner.
Thanks to Sidmouth Town Council for supporting the expansion and promotion of the Social Dance Programme.
Excitement is mounting as we add some fantastic new names to an already stellar cast of artists and events throughout the week…
Ham Concerts
We are delighted to add local heroes Show of Hands, celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, (with guest Miranda Sykes), to the array of musical stars appearing at the Ham Marquee this year. Also new to the line up: the mighty inter-Celtic gathering of Donal Lunny, Padraig Rynne & Sylvain Barou; ‘renaissance man’ Chris Wood and the master Dick Gaughan.
Pre Festival Special
WAR HORSE – THE CONCERT
Friday 3rd August Ham Marquee 3pm
Getting the week off to 
an inspirational start, Michael Morpurgo and John Tams & Barry Coope come together for an extra special performance of the author’s best-selling story War Horse.
Following in the wake of international movie success and an award-winning theatre productions, the emotional triumph War Horse will be performed as a unique reading by one of Britain’s most celebrated children’s authors and former Children’s Laureate, Michael Morpurgo. The performance features songs, to cradle the tale, from songmaker John Tams, alongside long-time collaborator Barry Coope. A rare and moving opportunity to hear the Devon-based author tell his own story of Joey and his journey from peaceful Devon to the First World War battlefields of France, from farm horse to War Horse.
Bulverton
…where fun-filled roots mayhem and high-energy dance parties are the order of the day! New to the line-up are the wonderful Canadian reggae act, Jason Wilson Band featuring guests Dave Swarbrick and Dick Gaughan!
Further helping to create a unique party vibe are: reggae-roots favourites Edward II; local boy done good Seth Lakeman; bhangra-rock fusion from Kissmet and a storming Whapweasel set. Yet more galvanising global grooves still to be announced!
All this and a special performance of high-leaping elegance in Morris Offspring’s joyful, energetic Must Come Down!
In need of a winter warmer?
Time to turn your thoughts to Sidmouth FolkWeek - 3rd – 10th August 2012 - when the streets of East Devon’s favourite coastal resort burst into life for your next annual festival holiday.
Book now at recession-beating prices for glorious sunshine-filled days and star-filled nights -whatever the weather! Buy Early Bird tickets at last year’s prices. Booking fee abolished – costing you less!
Already shaping up to be the essential event in any discerning festival goer’s diary, the 2012 festival sees top-class line-ups taking centre stage across the board.
With Festival Artistic Director Alan Bearman back at the helm, a stellar cast is already being assembled! Get ready to meet old friends and make new discoveries at Sidmouth FolkWeek.
Bulverton
Having established a reputation for fun-filled roots mayhem, this is the place to be with new early evening sessions and parties with that unique Bulverton buzz.
High-energy evening dance parties include: reggae-roots favourites Edward II; local hero Seth Lakeman, bhangra rock fusion from Kissmet, a storming set from Whapweasel and more yet to be
announced.
The legendary Bulverton-based Late Night Extras are set to be heaving. Expect ceilidh frolics with Spiers & Boden, Hekety, Peeping Tom, Tickled Pink, Monster Ceilidh Band and Blackbeard’s Tea Party. Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!
Young Sidmouth
Family-friendly events are at the heart of the Sidmouth FolkWeek experience and we have 12 hours of fun-filled events for tinies to teenies every day! Blackmore Gardens becomes the focus for workshops, crafts, circus skills, puppetry, street theatre and storytelling. Afternoon family specials return to the Blackmore Gardens Marquee. And there will be plenty of opportunities to ceilidh dance with all the family!
