Shrewsbury Folk Festival reveals line-up plans for 2021 return
One of Shropshire's biggest events has made its first line-up announcements ahead of its return next year.
Shrewsbury Folk Festival, like the majority of the country's 2020 events calendar, was forced to postpone due to the pandemic, but organisers have now revealed details of the event's planned return, next August.
The line-up will feature the majority of performers who had been scheduled to perform at this year's festival.
Those confirmed so far include American folk legend Judy Collins, Galician piper Carlos Núñez, Lindisfarne, Show of Hands, Oysterband, The Lost Words, Spell Songs with Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, Seckou Keita, Kris Drever, Rachel Newton, Beth Porter, Jim Molyneux and illustrator Jackie Morris, Canadian folk rockers Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and The Young’uns.
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Festival director Sandra Surtees said: “Being able to reveal such an exciting line-up for 2021 is a huge milestone for us in what has been a very challenging year. It’s giving us positivity for the future and something to look forward to. As ever, there’s something for everyone including household names like Judy Collins and Lindisfarne, alongside top folk and roots acts from the UK and some brilliant world musicians too.
“We’re making plans to deliver a Covid-secure event where our festival family can enjoy the same fabulous Shrewsbury atmosphere and be safe. It's too early to predict what, if any, changes may be necessary, but the size and flexibility of our site gives us lots of options.”
Also signed up for the festival's return are Stephen Fearing and The Sentimentals, the Seckou Keita Quartet, Moonlight Benjamin, Welsh super group Pendevig, sitar maestro Sheema Mukherjee, Zimbabwean group Black Umfolosi, American duo Truckstop Honeymoon, Colin Linden, Calan, The John Martyn Project – a musical tribute to the legendary singer songwriter and guitarist, The Trials of Cato, FOS Brothers, Kabantu, Will Pound’s A Day Will Come, Sisters of Elva Hill folk ballet, The Jellyman’s Daughter, The Boxwood Chessmen, Sherburn Bartley Sanders, Benji Kirkpatrick & The Excess, Sheelanagig, Tom Wilson, and Yorkston Thorne Khan.
Tickets are on sale for 2021, with the four-day festival planned to run from August 27-30 at the West Mid Showground in Shrewsbury.
The festival was awarded £93,000 as part of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund to help with the on-going running costs as it plans its 2021 event and to implement any necessary measures to ensure the safety of festival-goers next year.
Tickets can be booked at shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk/booktickets
