Like many festivals, The Sidmouth Folk Festival had to tread cautiously in 2020, switching to a scaled-back outdoors and online event. Now, The Sidmouth Folk Festival is proud to return in grand style in summer 2022 (July 29 to August 5, 2022), bringing a joyful feast of music, song and dance back to the beautiful Devon seaside town for the 68th consecutive year.
The Sidmouth Folk Festival is all set to return in 2022 with a top-class, eclectic lineup of artists who will headline evening shows in the main Ham venue, including England’s most popular folk songstress Kate Rusby whose 2020 Hand Me Down cover album, a celebration of all music handed down, made a big splash with press and radio.
The much-celebrated Scottish singer songwriter Eddi Reader is enough to brighten up any stage. Her last studio album, Cavalier, released in 2018, was a Featured Album of the Month on Folk Radio and also marked her 40th year as a performer.
Devon folk heroes and festival patrons Show of Hands released their most fully realised collection to date with Battlefield Dance Floor in 2019, another one of our Featured Albums of the Month. In his review, Danny Neill wasn’t holding back in his praise when he said it was one of the most cohesive, diverse and persuasive sets of their entire career.
Big, bold Aussie-based harmony singers The Spooky Men’s Chorale return to Sidmouth, undoubtedly bringing voice and humour in equal measure. One duo that will be high on the list of those attending will be the fiddle and melodeon giants and Folk Radio’s Artist of the Month for September Spiers and Boden. This year, they made a surprise comeback with Fallow Ground, their first album of new material in 13 years. In his review of the album, Billy Rough concludes:
At the album’s heart, though, is the utter joy of two friends making music together. Throughout, Spiers’ melodeon and Boden’s fiddle dance with delight. It is a rare indulgence to hear new songs and tunes from Spiers and Boden and to join them as they revel in the pleasure of their duet. Fallow Ground is a joyful, exciting, and beautifully produced release. It’s great to have them back.
They also gave a brilliant in-depth interview, talking about the album and making music together here.
Canadian roots trio The East Pointers will be putting the dancefloor to the test if their past performances are anything to go by, as will the rocking Quebecois outfit Yves Lambert Trio.
Granny’s Attic delivered a great album this year with Brickfields, which Folk Radio’s Peter Shaw reviewed here and concluded: “they have secured their place as one of the most exciting and accomplished English folk acts on the scene right now.” Another sure favourite is the outstanding British folk singer Jez Lowe whose songs hold rich story-telling value, as he so ably demonstrated on his 2020 Crazy Pagan album, reviewed here.
Two heavyweight pre-festival concerts with folk legends Steeleye Span (Thursday, July 28, evening) and Cornwall’s inimitable buoy band Fisherman’s Friends (the afternoon of Friday, July 29) are set to warm up both the stage and the town for the fun and games to come.
Regular festival-goers will be thrilled to see the return of the Bulverton at the top of the town, the high energy hub for ceilidhs, dynamic evening roots shows, eating, drinking, after-hours fun and relaxation. Highlights include Scottish funk dub folksters Peatbog Faeries, plus ska and squeezebox maestros Edward II, forthright young balladeer Grace Petrie and grooving European-style folk arrangements from Sheelanagig.
Tickets for all individual headline shows, as well as all-singing, all-dancing, all-week and weekend season tickets, are on sale now from sidmouthfolkfestival.co.uk.
Check out the full lineup announced so far here: https://sidmouthfolkfestival.co.uk/lineup/