June 20–22

Solas Festival

Errol Park, Errol, Perthshire

solasfestival.co.uk

July 3–6

The Gate to Southwell

Southwell, Nottinghamshire

The historic small market town of Southwell, north-east of Nottingham, goes big on star names for this celebrated four-day fest. Picturesque lakeside settings play host to heavy-hitters such as Richard Thompson, Jon Boden & The Remnant Kings and Katherine Priddy, while a complementary children’s programme should keep the kids entertained.

gtfs.uk

July 10–13

Stonehaven Folk Festival

Stonehaven, Scotland

Nestled in its Aberdeenshire heart, this vibrant coastal bash veers from educational to frivolous in a beat. Workshops, seminars, singarounds and folk sessions, plus headlining performances at the town hall by Mànran, Old Blind Dogs and others, all jostle for attention alongside the festival’s (in)famous World Paper’n’Comb Championships and Aqua Ceilidh!

stonehavenfolkfestival.co.uk

July 11–13

Ely Folk Festival

Ely, Cambridgeshire

elyfolkfestival.co.uk

July 11–13

Priddy Folk Festival

Priddy, Somerset

priddyfolk.org

July 12

Grasmere Rushbearing

St Oswald’s in Grasmere is the focus for this age-old heatproofing-cum-purifying practice, dating back to times when chapel floors were left unflagged and bodies of parishioners were buried, not just within the cemetery, but also the building itself. In its modern incarnation, six costumed Rush Maidens carry a white sheet conveying fresh rushes, while a procession led by musicians and members of the clergy make for St Oswald’s bearing sweet-smelling flowers or rushes. Participating children are rewarded with a piece of Grasmere gingerbread.

visitcumbria.com/rushbearing-festivals

July 16–19

HebCelt

Stornoway, Isle of Lewis

hebceltfest.com

July 19–20

Tapestry

The Esplanade, Westquay, Southampton

Playing out against the striking backdrop of Southampton’s medieval city walls, this free music weekender – a new kid on the folk festival block – boasts an attention-grabbing bill featuring Sam Lee, Muireann Bradley, Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening, Goblin Band and many more.

tapestryfestival.com

July 20

Folk by the Oak

Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire

Two stages pack in the acts at this now-perennial folk circuit favourite, with Bear’s Den, Kate Rusby, Fisherman’s Friends, Grace Petrie and Project Smok all poised for action during this year’s enticing iteration.

folkbytheoak.com

July 21–27

Yn Chruinnaght

Peel, Isle of Man

ynchruinnaght.com

July 24–27

Warwick Folk Festival

Castle Park, Warwick

warwickfolkfestival.co.uk

July 25–27

Speyfest

Fochabers, Parish of Bellie, Moray

speyfest.com

July 27 – August 3

Belfast TradFest

Various venues, Belfast

belfasttraditionalmusic.com

August 1–8

Sidmouth Folk Festival

Sidmouth, Devon

sidmouthfolkfestival.co.uk

August 7–10

Wickham Festival

Wickham, Hampshire

wickhamfestival.co.uk

August 8–15

Broadstairs Folk Week

Broadstairs, Kent

Charles Dickens’ favourite watering place is pushing the boat out for this event’s diamond jubilee. Lindisfarne, Martin & Eliza Carthy, The Copper Family, Flook, Angeline Morrison, Granny’s Attic and Megson feature among the many musical enticements, while a stacked itinerary of dances, workshops and other extra-curricular shenanigans supplement this popular seaside summit.

broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk

August 14–17

Purbeck Valley Folk Festival

Purbeck Valley Farm, Dorset

purbeckvalleyfolkfestival.co.uk

August 15–17

FolkEast

Sotterley Estate, Suffolk

One of the UK’s most beloved folk fests inaugurates its new Sotterley residency in the company of The Rheingans Sisters, Bridget St John, Cerys Hafana, Kris Drever and many more. Also on the docket is author Robert Macfarlane, on hand to discuss his latest book, Is a River Alive?, while Jon Wilks supervises proceedings on the Second Cousins stage, which marks the 60th anniversary of Les Cousins, the iconic Soho folk and blues club.

folkeast.co.uk

August 16

South Ronaldsay Boys’ Ploughing Match and the Festival of the Horse

The children of St Margaret’s Hope are the protagonists of unique equestrian rites on the Orkney isle of South Ronaldsay. Girls festooned with elaborate homemade harnesses and headdresses are decked out like gala working horses, while boys compete in historical echoes of their forefathers’ agricultural traditions, furrowing the village’s nearby beach with miniature ploughs.
bit.ly/southronaldsayfestival

August 16–22

Whitby Folk Week

Whitby, North Yorkshire

whitbyfolk.co.uk

August 21–25

Cornwall Folk Festival

Wadebridge, Cornwall

cornwallfolkfestival.com

August 22–25

Shrewsbury Folk Festival

West Midlands Showground, Shropshire

The much-loved family-friendly festival has a healthy dose of British folk alongside Americana-adjacent US roots, as well as a few surprises, as this year’s line-up of Moonlight Benjamin, Levellers, Oysterband, Jim Moray and Martha Wainwright attests.

shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk

August 29–31

Moseley Folk & Arts Festival

Moseley Park, Birmingham

moseleyfolk.co.uk

August 29–31

Supersonic Festival

Digbeth, Birmingham

Tradition’s dark roots get exposed at this devilishly eclectic fest where enigmatic folk outliers, such as Rich(ard) Dawson, Poor Creature, Cinder Well, Bridget Hayden & The Apparitions and Six Organs of Admittance, perform amid a disparate assembly of wildly anarchic noise-mongers.

supersonicfestival.com

September 4–7

BAAFest

Bellingham, Northumberland

baafest.com

September 5–7

Bungay Folk Festival

Castle Bailey, Bungay

bungayfolkfestival.co.uk

September 8

Abbots Bromley Horn Dance

At the heart of this ancient Staffordshire practice (reputedly one of the oldest customs in Europe), a pageant of antler-wielding Deermen dressed in Tudor-style garb gambol to the rampant wheeze of melodeon melodies about the parish, attended by Fool, Hobby Horse, Bow Man and Maid Marian. Bookended by two church services, the day’s abundant attractions also include exhibitions, craft stalls and, of course, the hospitality of village taverns.

abbotsbromley.com

September 11–14

Bromyard Folk Festival

Bromyard, Herefordshire

Family-friendly frolics in the rolling green fields of Herefordshire, with dance combo displays, children’s events and storytelling symposiums rounding out an extraordinary line-up starring Breabach, Sea Song Sessions (with Jon Boden, Jack Rutter, Emily Portman, Seth Lakeman and Ben Nicholls), The Wilderness Yet, Phil Downes & Phil Beer and The Furrow Collective.

bromyardfolkfestival.co.uk

September 13–27

St Ives September Festival

St Ives, Cornwall

stivesseptemberfestival.co.uk

September 19–21

Otley Folk Festival

Otley, West Yorkshire

otleyfolkfestival.com

September 20

Subterranean Festival

Southbank Centre, London

On a self-proclaimed mission to champion the “subterranean music and traditions of today”, promoters Broadside Hacks and Bird on the Wire, alongside folk-boosting imprints Rough Trade, River Lea and Skinty Records, have curated a delectably refreshing one-dayer chockful of beguiling talents, leaning heavily into the Irish scene with appearances from Lisa O’Neill, Poor Creature and Muireaan Bradley (in conversation with Peggy Seeger). Look out also for an intriguing celebration of the Incredible String Band, featuring founding member Mike Heron.

southbankcentre.co.uk

September 20

Malmesbury Folk & Roots

Malmesbury, Wiltshire

malmesburyfolkroots.org

October 4–6

Hartlepool Folk Festival

Various venues, Hartlepool

hartlepoolfolkfest.co.uk

October 10–12

Derby Folk Festival

Cathedral Quarter, Derby

Despite a recent self-imposed rebadge which saw it undergo an upgrade from ‘weekend’ to ‘festival’, this event remains a charmingly snug affair, with intimate shows scheduled from the likes of Granny’s Attic, Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage and The Black Feathers, served alongside a quasi-official, occasionally impromptu, fringe agenda.

derbyfolkfestival.co.uk

October 10–12

Harwich International Shanty Festival

Harwich, Essex

harwichshantyfestival.co.uk

November 5

Ottery St Mary Tar Barrels

East Devon goes to blazes in a freewheeling conflagration of flaming casks. The origins of this fiery happening are said to be rooted in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, but its exact provenance remains shrouded in mystery, with other suggestions mooting the zealous fumigation of provincial cottages and a series of combustible alerts signalling the arrival of the Spanish armada.

tarbarrels.co.uk

December 26

Marshfield Paper Boys

Father Beelzebub, Saucy Jack and the Doctor are just some of the oddball antagonists (all wearing finery fashioned from paper strips) embroiled in this traditional Boxing Day mummers’ play, a fantastical caper featuring sword fight set-pieces and mindboggling acts of resurrection.

marshfieldmummers.co.uk

2026

January 6

The Haxey Hood

Presided over by an all-singing Lord of the Hood, his conniving Boggins and a welcoming Fool, this riotous rugby-like game of yore from North Lincolnshire pits its participants in an all-against-all fight for survival as each attempts to transport the hood (a two-foot length of stout leather now thankfully substituting for a freshly slaughtered bullock’s head) to one of four rival pubs.

haxeyhood.weebly.com

January 14–18

Your Roots Are Showing: Ireland’s Folk Conference

Killarney, Co. Kerry

The annual flagship event for Your Roots Are Showing, the non-profit organisation dedicated to preserving and promoting folk, roots and traditional music through learning opportunities, mental health support and career development guidance. Expect masterclasses, panel discussions, instrument workshops, music sessions and celebrity keynote speeches.

showingroots.com

January 15 – February 1

Celtic Connections

Various venues, Glasgow

celticconnections.com

January 16–18

Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival

Relive an ancient Fenland rite of a Plough Monday parade led by the traditional Straw Bear, its keepers chaperoning the chaffy-costumed brute through town towards its ceremonial burning; a bizarre procession accompanied by music, dance and tall tales.

strawbear.org.uk

January 21–25

Dublin TradFest

Various venues, Dublin

tradfest.com

January 23–25

West Coast Folk Festival

Winter Gardens, Blackpool

westcoastfolkfestival.co.uk

March 19–21

Manchester Folk Festival

Various venues, Manchester

manchesterfolk.com

May 1

Padstow ’Obby ’Oss

Fertility-centred romps seize the Cornish fishing port of Padstow, as men liveried as hobby horses – the Old ’Oss and Blue Ribbon ’Oss – cavort about, encouraged by Teasers with sticks and musicians performing the special ‘May Song’. At intervals, the ’Oss ‘dies’ before miraculously reviving, preluding an evening equine dance-off between the two capering beasts.

fb.com/maydaypadstow

May 1–4

Hastings Jack in the Green

Poor Jack! Covered in verdant vegetation and donning a floral crown, he is the annual sacrifice auguring a bountiful summer at
this revived bank holiday weekender. After days of frolicsome merrymaking, Jack is finally robbed of his foliage. Catch one of
his leaves for luck.

hastingstraditionaljackinthegreen.co.uk

May 1–11

Edinburgh Tradfest

Various venues, Edinburgh

edinburghtradfest.com

May 8–10

Holmfirth Festival of Folk

Holmfirth, Kirklees, West Yorkshire

holmfirthfestivaloffolk.com

May 29

Castleton Garland Day

Flower power comes to the Derbyshire Peak District in the blooming form of the Garland King. In a custom coinciding with Oak Apple Day, commemorating the restoration of King Charles II in 1660, the marvellously floral monarch progresses through the narrow streets of Castleton on horseback, accompanied by his queen, while onlookers are conferred with symbolic sprigs of oak.
castleton-garland.com

May 30–31 (tbc)

Wessex Folk Festival

Harbourside, Weymouth, Dorset

wessexfolkfestival.com

June 12–14

Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival

Falmouth, Cornwall

Fathom the finest in shanties and seafaring yarns at the largest free celebration of nautical song anywhere in Europe, with a multitude of shipshape crews performing classic and contemporary fare up and down the Cornish coast.

falmouthseashanty.co.uk

With thanks to EFDSS (efdss.org), Averil Shepherd at Calendar Customs (calendarcustoms.com) and Sophie Parkes