Introducing... the 2010 City of York Folk Weekend.

Dozens of singers, players and dancers will gather at the Black Swan Inn, on Peasholme Green, for the 2010 City of York Folk Weekend on June 5 and 6.

Hosted by the Black Swan Folk Club, the two-day event will celebrate the diversity of the flourishing folk, roots and acoustic music scene in York.

From lunchtime until late evening on both days, performances will be taking place simultaneously in a marquee in the car park and in three separate rooms indoors.

“There are all-day concerts under canvas; a non-stop open musicians’ session in the Bowes Room; and a mix of other events in the upstairs Wolfe Room and the downstairs Oak Room, including plenty of ‘open-mic’ club sessions and singarounds for those who want a chance to sing and play themselves,” says organiser Roland Walls.

York bands appearing on the main stage include Americana favourites Los Yobos and Union Central, veteran easy-listening folk outfit The Foresters and dynamic young folk rockers Blackbeard’s Tea Party. The a cappella vocal sounds of Ripple and Two Black Sheep & A Stallion, the melodic folk-pop of Two and Holly Taymar and the singer-songwriter fare of Stan Graham, David Swann, Miles Cain, Sarah Dean and Paula Ryan will be further York participants. Other Black Swan stalwarts taking their turn include Susie Fox, Eddie Affleck, Chris Euesden, Phil Cerny and The Fine Companions.

Among the guests from the wider region are Edwina Hayes from Driffield, rising star Anna Shannon from Scarborough, old favourites Geoff Watson from Hebden Bridge and Blackwater from Wakefield, shanty group Monkey’s Fist and expatriate Scottish singer Wendy Arrowsmith. Look out too for Duncan McFarlane with his electric band next Saturday afternoon and Dylan covers specialists The Basement Band on the Sunday evening.

Next Saturday also sees a main stage set by members of the York Young Fiddlers, dance displays by Acorn Morris and Ebor Morris and a burst of Japanese drumming from Kaminari Taiko, plus a Poems & Pints spoken word interlude with host Miles Cain in the Oak Room. An evening concert in the Wolfe Room will accommodate six acts that could not be fitted into the marquee line-up.

Indoor events on the Sunday include a Yorkshire Folk Songs workshop with Yorkshire Garland, a Jake Thackray celebration, an afternoon concert and an evening of locally themed songs by members of the York Songwriters Circle. That day too, members of Soundsphere will host a two-hour singing workshop at nearby St Crux Church, followed by an open singing session at the Black Swan.

“The weekend is entirely free – aside from the singing workshop, for which there’s a small fee – so listeners are free to drop in for ten minutes or ten hours and can move freely from one room to another, space permitting,” says Roland.

“Hopefully the weather will smile on us again as it did last year.”

For the full programme, go to blackswanfolkclub.org.uk or contact Roland Walls on 01904 632922 or via email to blackswanfolkclub@yahoo.co.uk. Singing workshop calls should be directed to 01904 623599.