Pickering Folk Festival Launched

The Events Office of Pickering will be staging their own first ever major music festival when the Pickering Folk Festival takes place on the showground during the weekend of August 8th, 9th and 10th of this year. Forty acts will be performing on two stages including major headliners for each of the three days. There will be many other events taking place including children's entertainment, circus skills workshops, face painting, ceilidhs and morris dancing. As well as a large trade and craft fair there will be a host of catering options to suit most tastes. The local Cropton Brewery will be hosting festival goers in the beer tent where additional performance will also take place by some of the funniest people on the folk scene including the inimitable Les Barker.

 

The music itself is of the highest quality and features some of the most talented and well known names in the world of folk music. Names such as Cara Dillon, Luka Bloom, Coope Boyes & Simpson, Last Night's Fun and Johnny Dickinson will be appearing over the weekend. North Yorkshire too is strongly represented with local acts Eliza Carthy Band, Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick and Steve Phillips & The Rough Diamonds  all securing prime spots on the main stage. But the real coup for The Events Office was to be able to put number one chart toppers The Waterboys, Eddi Reader and Nizlopi at the top of the bill on each day.

 

Now in their silver jubilee year, The Waterboys have been at the forefront of many styles of music over the years thanks to the ever changing mood of their perenial front man Mike Scott. From the huge stadium rock sound of their best selling 1985 album This Is The Sea to their dalliance with Irish traditional music on the album Fisherman's Blues, Mike Scott has kept the band at the top of their game with floods of new fans hooking up every year. Most people will know the classics The Whole Of The Moon and Fisherman's Blues but with a wealth of material to call upon from his thirteen studio albums, Scott will have no problem keeping punters rocking in the aisles on the Friday night.

 

A more sedate affair can be expected on Saturday evening when Eddi Reader takes centre stage with her band of talented musicians. Best known in her early days for being lead singer with Fairground Attraction and their number one single Perfect, Reader has matured into one of the most beautiful singers in Britain today. Her most recent album Peacetime bears this out.

 

The closing act sees Nizlopi headlining the main stage at the festival. Famous for their 2005 number one single The JCB song, these two lads proved that you don't have to belong to one of the majors to be able to crack the charts as sales reached 400,000 in Britain and Ireland alone. The JCB song was a great song but Luke Concannon and John Parker are about so much more than a novelty song at Christmas. Soulful vocals, superb guitar and double bass playing and the odd human beatbox thrown in is guaranteed to keep everyone happy for an hour and a half on the Sunday evening.

 

Pickering Folk Festival will bring thousands of visitors to the town over the weekend and will put the Pickering Showground on the map as a serious music venue. Local businesses in Pickering and Malton will benefit from the extra trade and local people will be able to enjoy a weekend of quality entertainment. A variety of ticket options are available depending on your needs. Full weekend season tickets are the best option as, besides the level of entertainment, you'll be able to camp out too and have your own little holiday without leaving the town. If watching concerts is not your thing then you'll be able to go along to the showground on Saturday and Sunday and enjoy all the other events going on for a small entrance fee at the gate. Simon Boak of The Events Office said "We are very pleased to be able to offer such a high level of entertainment to the people of Pickering and to be able to help local commerce at the same time. We're sure that local people will support the weekend and come along to enjoy the family atmosphere and the wonderful music". All you need to know about Pickering Folk Festival can be found at www.pickeringfolkfestival.com or by calling the Events Office box office on 01751 473780

 

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