Beverley Folk Festival 2017 – More Stars Announced

A host of artists have been announced for Beverley Folk Festival 2017, with full-weekend tickets currently on sale at a £35 discount on the final sale price.

With folk legend Martin Carthy, his award-winning musician daughter Eliza Carthy and hot new folk rock group False Lights already announced, they will be joined by Bellowhead front man Jon Boden, singer songwriter Henry Priestman and new sensation Sam Kelly.

Matt Snowden, voluntary festival chairman, said: “We are excited to announce these latest acts, in what is rapidly becoming a fantastic line-up for next year. Booking Jon Boden is a major coup, as he is rightly hailed as one of the greatest exponents of modern folk music and is one of the biggest and most respected names in the business. We’re also thrilled to have our old friend Henry Priestman returning to our stage – his lyrics have real depth and his connection with the audience is second to none. With Sam Kelly, we have a young man who first came to public attention on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ as a finalist in 2012 and has proved his folk credentials ever since, winning the Horizon Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards earlier this year.”

Adding these names to the 2017 programme, which already includes Martin, Eliza and False Lights, illustrates the festival’s on-going commitment to bringing some of the brightest new stars, alongside celebrated legends, to next year’s festival in what will be its thirty-forth year.

Jon Boden is best known as the lead singer and main arranger of the progressive folk juggernaut Bellowhead. After twelve years, a quarter of a million album sales, seven singles on the Radio 2 playlist and selling out hundreds of venues throughout the land and beyond, including notably the Royal Albert Hall, Jon announced in 2015 that he wanted to move on and Bellowhead played their final gig in May this year. Named Folk Singer of the Year at the 2009 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for his critically lauded album ‘Songs From The Floodplain’, he has toured several times since then with both Bellowhead and his own band The Remnant Kings, but his appearance at Beverley will be part of his first tour that sees him perform entirely solo and is not to be missed.

Meanwhile, Hull-born Henry Priestman is no stranger to Beverley Folk Festival, having appeared in the past to much acclaim. A former member of 80s band The Christians, Henry wrote all the songs on their 1987 triple-platinum album and his skills at composing both music and lyrics have grown to receive much critical acclaim. At the festival, he will be performing a clever combination of new songs, albums gems and some of those classic Christians hits, such as ‘Ideal World’ and ‘Forgotten Town’, with plenty of anecdotes and laughter along the way.

Sam Kelly has been lauded by folk legend and Beverley Folk Festival patron Mike Harding as “One of the most interesting voices on the folk scene… I think this guy is absolutely brilliant”. Sam’s meandering musical journey has ranged from reaching the final of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent as a teenager, to being selected for the first ever EFDSS Artist Development Scheme and now to Beverley Folk Festival. Touring as a trio with Jamie Francis (banjo) and Evan Carson (percussion), Sam has become firm favourite at venues and festivals in all parts of the country. Enlisting the extraordinary talents of new band members Ciaran Algar (fiddle) and Graham Coe (cello), he went straight back into the studio to record his debut album. ‘The Lost Boys’ came out in November 2015 to a storm of rave reviews, cementing Sam’s place as one of the most rapidly rising stars on the UK folk scene.

Kelly Foley, Beverley Folk Festival’s artistic programmer, explained: “As you can see from the artists we have already booked, 2017 will be something really special. However, this is not the end of it, as we will be announcing more big names, new stars and old favourites in the coming months, with our aim to book at least one-hundred artists – and that doesn’t include performers from folk clubs, the Westwood Sessions and people who just want to come along and jam. Folk is a big genre that encompasses so much more than just traditional music and having listened to feedback from revellers who attended in 2016, we are confident that we’ll be providing something for everyone.”

Tickets for Beverley Folk Festival 2017 are currently on sale as part of a special Summer Sizzler deal of £85 for a full weekend ticket – that is a £35 saving on the final ticket price. As more great musicians are announced, festival organisers expect tickets to sell quickly, so their best advice is for festival-goers to get them whilst they’re can at this reduced price.

Beverley Folk Festival takes place from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th June 2017 at Beverley Racecourse. The Summer Sizzler ticket deal can be purchased at £85 through www.beverleyfestival.com(free of charge for children under the age of 12).

A weekend camping option is also available.