The Brewery Arts Centre will be rolling back the years to the heady days of its famous folk festival with a brand new event this month.
The Sundown Folk Weekend is a three-day celebration of traditional music featuring headline performances from some of the biggest names in the genre and small intimate sessions taking place throughout the centre from 23-25 September.
The event includes performances from three top bands including:
Eliza Carthy & The Wayward Band (Fri 23 Sept) – Pioneering English traditional folk powerhouse with her new band. Eliza is one of the all-time greats of the UK folk scene and is an eight-time BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winner who has also been nominated for the Mercury Prize twice
Dervish (Sat 24 Sept) – Dervish is one of the all-time great traditional Irish bands featuring the stunning voice of Cathy Jordan.
RURA (Sun 25 Sept) – Since bursting onto the scene in 2010, as award winners at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival, RURA have firmly established themselves as a major force in traditional Celtic music. RURA’s powerful sound comes from a line-up of Highland pipes, whistle, flute, fiddle, bodhran, guitar and vocals.
The weekend will also feature a host of smaller sessions in some of the Brewery’s smaller venues and also a special children’s music show from David Gibb (Sat 24 Sept) an award winning songwriter and storyteller.
The event evokes memories of the Brewery’s annual folk festival which took place on August Bank Holiday weekends and ran around 15 years spanning the 80s and 90s attracting folk fans across the region who would pack the centre for performances, dancing, craft stalls and workshops. The festival also featured a prestigious Song Search competition which was judged by the likes of Melvyn Bragg and Victoria Wood,
The folk festival helped build the Brewery’s reputation as one of the best venues for folk music in north of England, which continues to this day and helps tempt major names in traditional music to the Brewery, not to mention the annual BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards which is presented by Mark Radcliffe.
The Sundown Folk Festival is being funded by South Lakeland District Council and the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership.
Councillor Chris Hogg, SLDC’s portfolio holder for Culture and Wellbeing, said: “There have been some first class folk events in South Lakeland in the past and I’m sure Sundown will build on this. It cements our reputation as a leading cultural destination and for fantastic festivals which often use the Brewery as a hub. Another event to look forward to.’’
For tickets visit www.breweryarts.co.uk or call box office on 01539 725133.