Folk Festival Diary - Overture

March 2025 - Music festivals. Something I’ve developed a passion for - especially now that I get to photograph them. Not the big ones like Glastonbury in a big field, sleeping in tents and with a three mile walk to the toilets - I can’t be doing with any of that at my age, - but the smaller ones / not so big ones, where you can really see the artist or band perform and you get to go home, to the comfort of your own bed afterwards.

This year I’m starting early with a new festival for me and a new style of music to embrace from what I normally get to photograph. Folk music has only ever been something that I’ve skirted around, mainly when a song has crossed over to the mainstream and been played on national radio in the middle of the day or via 'Later with Jools Holland', but with full access for the whole three days, and two dozen artists, across eight venues to witness and photograph, my eyes are about to be fully opened and the small world that I live in, educated to another level.

The Manchester Folk Festival starts on Thursday 20th March and goes through until Saturday 22nd, and is spread across ten main venues, all within walking distance of each other, in the Northern Quarter, and “brings together a diverse range of artists who represent the broad definition of contemporary folk music” so says the website. It offers an invitation to “discover the best contemporary and traditional folk, roots and acoustic music”, so this is where I’ll begin my education. The difference between Contemporary Folk and Traditional Folk is…

And therein lies the whole point of it all. Festivals like this give you the chance to broaden your horizons and fully realise that there’s a huge spectrum of music out there and it doesn’t matter what genre someone has decided it should reside in. What matters is the quality of the music. How well it’s played and sung, how much passion is shown by the performer and how much you get moved by it. I’m not a fan of musicals at all (don’t judge me now, we all have our limitations !) but even I was moved when I heard Michael Crawford sing ‘Phantom of the Opera’ in a mist filled theatre many years ago.

The beauty of this festival (and the Manchester Jazz Festival that takes place in May) is that many of the events are free, so apart from a few beers and a few hours of your leisure time, the cost of having your eyes opened to a whole new experience is minimal. You’ll find free events at The Smithfield Market Tavern, the Cutting Room Square and The Copper Bar at Band on the Wall Bar to begin with.

That ‘broad definition’ I mentioned earlier, is a bit of an understatement if ever there was one and mimics that of every jazz festival you’ve ever experienced. Whatever your idea of folk is, especially if you’re new to the scene, will soon be shattered. I’ve spent the past few days ‘YouTubing’ the life out of the artists on my roster to see who they are and what they’re about, (yes, I know, it’s hard to believe but I actually do my homework before a gig !) and you could easily be forgiven for thinking that many of them are more mainstream artists rather than having been pigeonholed into a niche that many people might never experience or completely avoid out of ignorance / naivety, especially if you only ever listen to what the local and national radio stations offer, and gone are the days when All About Eve, Fairground Attraction and Enya could break into the charts and end up on Top of the Pops, wedged between Spandau Ballet and The Jam, making you sit up and take notice of something the like of which you’ve never heard before. Thinking about it, gone are the days of Top of the Pops for that matter !

I’m fortunate enough to have been blessed with a smörgåsbord as the Swedes would say, for my first proper foray into the world of folk from a burgeoning line-up which includes up and coming artists like Lucy Grubb, Ed Blunt and Anna McLuckie to ‘big hitters’ such as Bellowhead frontman, John Boden (together with The Remnant Kings), the delightful Katherine Priddy and Josienne Clarke and Oxford’s own Stornoway.

I’m about to experience the lyrical rebelliousness of The Deep Blue, the ‘indie folk’ of St. Catherine’s Child and the ‘alternative folk ‘of Heather Ferrier – and trust that my current ignorance of the variations will dissipate enough for me to tell the difference afterwards.

Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne will demonstrate his talent on the Anglo Concertina (never heard of one of these, more Googling to do !) and his melodeon (see previous comment in brackets) and many a harmony will be delivered with gusto apparently, by Culverake. Oh, and I’ll have to contend with ‘The Wellerman’ going round and around and around in my head for days, such is its infectiousness, once The Longest Johns have performed it on Friday. I’ll have to put my faith in Caoilfhionn Rose, Lisa Knapp and Gerry Diver, and Katherine Priddy, and hope that their performances on Saturday will be just as contagious and leave me with a selection of hook lines to sing in my head and leave me looking insane when I’m sat in traffic at the lights and roundabouts as I navigate my way out of the city !

It'll be challenging to deliver all that has been asked for and I’ll be wrecked on Sunday with all the running about between the venues – here’s hoping that it’s not ‘three and out’ at all of them and I can shuffle my way to the front to get some good shots at least – but this is what I love about festivals, it’s why I do it and why I hope it’ll continue for a good few years to come.

The Festival Wristbands have now sold out, but you can find out more information if you want to, by clicking here...

…you can download the festival brochure by clicking here…

…and for general information about tickets to the headline shows, by clicking here…

Let the Fun Begin !

Written in association with

Manchester Folk Festival