The Magpie Arc Indoor Festival of Folk

A day-long winter feast of music and very special guests under the one historic roof with folk, food, facilities and a nice, warm sit down.

Featuring The Magpie Arc, Tom Robinson, The Rosie Hood Band, Janice Burns and Jon Doran, with one more top UK folk artist to be announced...

AND

Matthew Bannister (BBC Radio and Folk on Foot broadcaster) interviewing music industry legends and the people that helped invent folk/rock....producer/manager Joe Boyd and producer/sound engineer John Wood (Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, John Martyn, Nick Drake, Richard and Linda Thompson amongst MANY others).

Artists

The Magpie Arc – “UK folk/rock’s new supergroup” (copyright Mark Radcliffe) featuring the award-winning artists Nancy Kerr, Martin Simpson, Findlay Napier, Tom A. Wright and Alex Hunter. “Folk/rock with Led Zeppelin vibes” and “an elemental racket,” their debut album updating the classic 60s/70s British folk/rock sound has been a fixture in the UK Official Folk Chart since it’s release in November 2022. “Everyone in the band brings their own talents but the synergy makes them much more than the sum of their parts. It takes "folk-rock" to a new and exciting level.” (Fatea Magazine)

Tom Robinson – Songwriter, Musician, broadcaster, LGBT activist, supporter of Rock Against Racism and Amnesty International, chart hitmaker and all round tremendous supporter of new music artists, Tom has worked with the best (Peter Gabriel and Elton John amongst many others), has won two Sony Radio Academy Awards and served as a member of the Ivor Novello Awards committee for over 15 years.

The Rosie Hood Band – Hailing from Wiltshire, Rosie has “a magical voice, an awareness of her roots, a sense of fun on stage, and of course, makes the most marvellous music" (R’n’R Magazine). A BBC Performing Arts Fellow in 2015 and a 2016 BBC Folk Horizon Award nominee, she has toured the UK and Canada both solo and as part of The Dovetail Trio as well as collaborating and performing with a host of fellow musicians including Emily Portman, Jefferson Hamer and Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne. Rosie is currently working with her band which includes the talented accompanists Nicola Beazley (fiddle/cello), Robyn Wallace (melodeon) & Rosie Butler-Hall (fiddle) and her latest album “A Seed Of Gold” is released on the 3rd of November.

The Trials of Cato – Dubbed "the Sex Pistols of folk,” (J Davis) The Trials of Cato pay clear homage to the tradition whilst twisting old bones into something febrile and modern, with stomping tunes and captivating stories. Notably formed in Beirut, Lebanon, they have blazed a trail like no other since returning to the UK in 2016. Memorable performances across Britain, Europe, and North America led to Mark Radcliffe hailing the band ‘one of the real discoveries on the folk circuit in recent times.’ With their latest offering Gog Magog, The Trials of Cato present their most daring music to date.

Janice Burns and Jon Doran - An award-winning Anglo-Scottish duo, Janice and Jon came together after discovering a shared love of traditional music and songs that tell vivid stories about the nature of life and our place in the world. Their debut album ‘No More the Green Hills' has gained overwhelmingly positive feedback, with delicious harmonies and with their skilful talent as instrumentalists.

The Matthew Bannister Interview – Joe Boyd and John Wood

BBC Radio and Folk On Foot broadcaster Matthew Bannister interviews music industry legends/producers/sound engineer and all round co-creators of the UK folk/rock genre Joe Boyd and John Wood.

Look at the back cover of an early UK folk/rock album and you’ll most likely find the words “Producer - Joe Boyd” and “Sound Engineer – John Wood” plus “Witchseason”, the witch on a broomstick logo and the studio name “Sound Techniques”.

Joe and John were, from the very beginning, the team behind Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Fotheringay, John Martyn, Nick Drake, the Incredible String Band plus many others and this is a very rare opportunity to hear the background stories about what was a seismic shift in UK folk music in the 1960s and early 70s.

Perhaps you don't yet feel ready to return to live gigs? You can support our activities anyway by making a donation to the English Folk Dance and Song Society, registered charity number 305999.