Shrewsbury Folk Festival

Shrewsbury Folk Festival is an annual festival of folk and world music and traditional dance held in the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England.

It takes place over four days on and around the UK Late Summer bank holiday weekend (usually the last weekend in August). The first Shrewsbury festival was held in 2006, but it was a direct successor to the Bridgnorth Folk Festival, which was first held in 1997. The 2006 Shrewsbury event was staged at The Quarry, but in 2007 a move was made to the larger West Midlands Showground, where all subsequent festivals have been held.

The festival is headed by festival directors Alan Surtees and Sandra Surtees who both started the Bridgnorth Folk Festival in 1997; the festival, projects and events that come under the 'Shrewsbury Folk Festival' banner are organised by Alan, Sandra and the small team who make up the committee.

The festival's patrons are John Jones of Oysterband and Steve Knightley of Show of Hands (since 2011). Both Oysterband and Show of Hands have performed at the festival on more than one occasion.

Artists booked for the first Shrewsbury Folk Festival in 2006 included Seth Lakeman and the Doonan Family Band. The 2007 festival featured Paul Brady, Bellowhead, Show of Hands, Kate Rusby, Kerfuffle and 4Square. Headline acts at the 2008 festival were Richard Thompson, The Duhks, Bellowhead, Oysterband, Lunasa and the Demon Barber Roadshow. The 2009 festival was notable for featuring artists who contributed to the Darwin Song Project, both collectively and individually, along with headlining acts Seth Lakeman, Eric Bibb, Show of Hands (supported by the Spooky Men's Chorale), the Dhol Foundation and The Proclaimers. 2010 saw headlining appearances by Afro Celt Sound System, Bellowhead, Billy Bragg, Adrian Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds, Dervish, and the Michael McGoldrick Big Band. (Cara Dillon, although booked to play at the 2010 festival and featured in festival publicity, was unable to appear.)

...
Wikipedia