THE City of York Folk Weekend celebrates its tenth anniversary with a three-day jamboree of free performances, sessions and events from today until Sunday.
Live music will be played in every nook and cranny of the venerable Black Swan Inn in Peasholme Green: a marquee stage in the spacious car park, plus three rooms full of music-making indoors. Around 60 artists are taking part, most of them from York and its vicinity. “Folk, roots and acoustic music is flourishing in this area, and this is our tenth annual celebration of that vibrant scene,” says organiser Roland Walls.
“The event has grown steadily from a one-day bash to two days to a full weekend festival, and it’s undoubtedly a highlight of the year for local folk musicians and folk enthusiasts, and it is, of course, free.”
In the marquee, the music spans the folk-rock of Blackbeard’s Tea Party and The Basement Band, to the bluegrass and Americana of King Courgette, Union Central and Moonshine Creek, and the a cappella trad folk of Two Black Sheep & A Stallion.
World music will be represented by Kaminari Taiko Drummers and Caramba; singer-songwriters include Andy Stones, Holly Taymar and Union Jill; and dance interludes will be provided by Minster Strays, Ebor Morris and Acorn Morris.
Among other local artists doing a turn will be Jessica Lawson, Miles Cain, Broken Ground and Dan Webster, plus Black Swan Folk Club stalwarts such as Eddie Affleck, Phil Cerny, Paula Ryan and David Swann.
Guest performers from farther afield include Gerry McNeice Band, The Hut People, Gloria Jeffries, Huddersfield’s Roger Davies, shanty men Monkey’s Fist and up-and-coming young band Sail Pattern.
“As befits a folk festival, there’ll be plenty of chances to join in the singing and playing,” says Roland. “Non-stop musicians’ sessions will be taking place in the pub dining room [the Bowes Room] from noon, tomorrow and Sunday, while the smaller Oak Room and the upstairs Wolfe Room – home of our weekly folk club – will be hosting ‘open mic’ events, singarounds and free’n’easy jams.”
Several mini-concerts will be run in the function rooms. Tonight has a celebration of the songs of Tom Paxton, courtesy of Stan Graham and Kevin Loughran, from 8pm to 11pm, while on Sunday the focus falls on home-grown material with the York Songwriters Circle, hosted by Stan Graham from 7.45pm to 10.30pm, both in the Wolfe Room.
Tomorrow’s events in the Oak Room include a Yorkshire Folk Songs session from 1pm, a storytelling hour with Adrian Spendlow from 4.15pm and a children’s club with Wee Folk from 5.15pm.
Off-site, members of Soundsphere will be running a singing workshop on Sunday from 11.15am to 1.15pm in the Marriott Room at York Central Library.
“We hope there’ll be something to suit all folk tastes. All events are entirely free of charge, though we’ll be rattling collection tins to help us meet the unavoidable costs of staging such a free festival,” says Roland.
“The fun begins at 7.30pm tonight and from around noon both tomorrow and Sunday. For safety reasons, the car park will be closed to vehicles, but there is alternative parking nearby, and don’t forget that the Black Swan sits on several main bus routes.
“The pub will have plenty of hot food and a fine choice of real ales, and this year there’ll be extra gazebos in the car park, in case of poor weather, and mobile toilet facilities.”
Check out the full programme online at blackswanfolkclub.org.uk Anyone needing further details can ring Roland Walls on 01904 632922.
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