Maybe it’s as I’ve got older or had kids that I tend to favour the smaller festivals out there. When I go to a folk festival I want it to feel like a complete escape from the rat race. The thought of heading to a festival where the crowd capacity is way up in the thousands is enough to bring me out in a cold sweat. Luckily for us here in the UK we are thoroughly spoilt when it comes to finding a suitable folk festival to whet our appetites and there is no shortage of them for the month of May. I’ll be recommending some more very soon but one that leapt off the page for me was Ireby Festival in Cumbria. This festival is for those that love remote and cosy locations.
Ireby Festival, Cumbria (22-23 May 2015)
Ireby Festival is wonderfully remote, it’s a small and very beautiful farming village situated north of Keswick on the northern edge of the Lake District National Park. The festival is kept to 600 folkies and takes place across a number of music venues around the village.
This one sells out fast, but at the time of typing this they have around 70 tickets left. So if you fancy a festival that is for those who prefer to see live music performed in cosy settings then this could be your dream find.
As well as music, which I’ll come on to in a moment they also feature workshops and storytelling (like and proper folk festival should).
This year their line-up includes Cara Dillon, Police Dog Hogan, CoCo and the Butterfields, Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman, Jordie Lane, Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin, Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar, Annabelle Chvostek, Sam Kelly Trio, Wilful Missing, The Carrivick Sisters, Kelly Oliver, 4Square, Talisk and many more.
Here’s a flavour of what it’s like:
https://vimeo.com/88195155
Head here for more details and to see the full line-uphttp://www.irebyfestival.co.uk/
You can also find them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/ireby.festival