Following two sold-out annual events, Walton Folk Festival returns for a third year with another exciting lineup showcasing the very best of folk, roots and acoustic music on Sunday 10 May 2020 at the Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.
Headlining the one-day festival are Wildwood Kin who have graced the stages of Glastonbury, Cambridge Folk Festival and Beautiful Days. Along the way, the Devon folk trio have built a solid fanbase including BBC Radio 2 Folk Show presenter Mark Radcliffe who, in reference to one Cambridge performance, declared them “Cambridge Festival show-stealers… the real deal”. The voices of three young women harmonise effortlessly with shades of Simon & Garfunkel, Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac and the churchy cadences of the first Fleet Foxes album.
Joining them in the evening lineup, and also from Devon, are Riverhouse favourites, Tobias Ben Jacob and Lukas Drinkwater. They performed a stunning sold-out show at the Riverhouse Barn venue in 2019 following which they released This Old River. In his review of the album, Peter Shaw concluded:
This is an album I will return to, drawing solace from its bravery to face the realities of life on this planet in the second decade of the 21st century. But determined that things can be better. More beautiful. More compassionate. Astonishing.
The afternoon lineup features contemporary folk/acoustic duo Gilmore & Roberts who combine award-winning songwriting with astounding musicianship to create a powerful wall of sound. In 2018 they released A Problem Of Our Kind which Folk Radio reviewer Thomas Blake called “a masterclass in songwriting”.
Also appearing are Road Not Taken, a Bristol-based four-piece starting to make waves on the UK folk scene, playing their unique brand of melancholic songs and tunes.
Brought together by the progressive Glasgow folk music community, Jenn & Laura-Beth will be entertaining the festival audience with their perfectly blended voices and tasteful and harmonious arrangements of the guitar and mandolin with influences from both sides of the Atlantic.
Continuing their commitment to showcasing exciting young talent, the festival lineup is completed by Odette Michell, a British folk singer-songwriter, guitarist and bouzouki player with a bold new take on the acoustic tradition. Regular readers of Folk Radio will be familiar with Odette who has featured regularly on this website since her first single premiered back in 2018.
Tickets for the festival are available here: https://thelittleboxoffice.com/riverhouse/event/view/117744
£34 for the full day, £17 (£8.50 for a child) daytime only and £19 for the evening. The festival will end at 10.30 pm – in good time to catch the train home from the nearby Walton station.
Last two years the event sold out well before the event, so early booking is a must.
Walton River Festival
The festival will be preceded by a special free performance at the adjacent Riverside Park on Saturday 9 May by Joe Broughton’s Conservatoire Folk Ensemble, as part of the Walton River Festival. This starts at Cowey Sale (near Walton Bridge) with children’s activities, readings, drama, art and music to celebrate the Thames.
Photo Credit: Sequoia Ziff (courtesy of Wildwood Kin)