Free live folk music with festival’s return
ROCHDALE Folk Festival returns this summer after its success last year. The festival is made up of free live music in some of Rochdale’s bestloved pubs and also includes morris dancing and family activities.
A number of artists have been announced for the event which will be held from Friday, June 10 to Sunday, June 12, with a full list to be revealed at a later date.
Festival Artistic Director, David Agnew, said: “The Folk Festival team began the first festival preparations in 2020 but it had to be put on hold until 2021 due to covid restrictions.
“We are really excited to have the support of the town centre to come back and without the restrictions.
“It’s really exciting because we are at the stage of nearly confirming artists and it’s an opportunity for people to experience something different and we have a great programme of music.
“We work hard to make sure the event feels accessible and the artists we present are from a range of diverse backgrounds to reflect the diversity of Rochdale and Greater Manchester.
“We have expanded this year and we are delighted at how many businesses and people have approached us to get involved last year after seeing the success of the festival last year.
“I am delighted to work with Rochdale Skylight Circus who will be bringing lots of participatory opportunities and a chance for families to learn circus skills.”
Award-winning modern folk trio
Harp and a Monkey will be entertaining audiences at The Medicine Tap with their poignant, thoughtprovoking and melodic song and stories about life, love and remembrance on June 11.
Martin Purdy, of Harp and a Monkey, said: “Despite the fact that two of us grew up and went to school in Middleton, and the fact I lived in Bamford for some years, we have rarely played in this area.
“So the idea of a Rochdale Folk Festival, and having the chance to be a part of it, is really exciting for us.
“We are always billed as a ‘Lancashire’ trio wherever we play around Britain, so it is great to finally get the chance to bring some of these songs and stories ‘home’ - and a lot of them are about Greater Manchester.”
Johnny Campbell, who has gained a strong reputation on the British Folk and European underground scenes and has performed over 500 shows across the world will be stopping at The Flying Horse to perform on June 11.
He said: “I’m looking forward to being involved with Rochdale Folk Festival in June and you can expect original songs about land access and radical history with a smattering of Northern English traditional folk song too.”
The singer will also make an appearance at The Medicine Tap and Hoochi Koochi.
Folk singers, Bryony Griffith and Alice Jones, will also be performing at The Flying Horse at a date to be confirmed.
Bryony said: “We were delighted to be asked to play at this year’s Rochdale Folk Festival.
“We’re looking forward to performing tracks from our debut duo album, ‘A Year Too Late and a Month Too Soon” and bringing some traditional Yorkshire folk songs over the border for two concerts on Friday night!
“Alice will also be doing some solo gigs on Saturday.”
Bryony and Alice will be performing at The Medicine Tap on June 10.
Honey We Three will be captivating audiences with their traditional Irish music and American folk mixed with a soothing rhythm of double bass on June 11 at The Medicine Tap.
Seamus Cowan, leader of Honey We Three, said: “Always happy to take part in folk festivals, it’s what we do best! Rochdale Folk Festival would be a first for us so I’m looking forward to seeing what the local musicians have to offer, definitely to hop on a few sessions during the day for a few tunes for sure.
“Feeling excited to share new material, we have a new singer also which I’ll be delighted to share with everyone also, she’s unreal!”
For updates visit the Rochdale Folk Festival website.