Ely Folk Festival Line Up 2020

We love to provide a platform for up-and-coming amateur talent and our Band Competition and Youth Folk Challenge are great opportunities to win a slot to perform alongside some fantastic acts at the 2020 festival. Contrary to its title, the Band Competition is open to...

One of the most shamelessly exuberant dance bands on the English folk scene, Steamchicken has roared from its humble beginings to fame and popularity over a career spanning nearly 3 decades. Regularly delighting Dance tents, Folk clubs and Village halls across the...

We are so excited about the wonderful line up we have booked for the 2020 Ely Folk Festival, that we have decided to open the box office early - on 9th December. Details of ticket prices and how to book tickets are posted on our Tickets page. Give yourself, a friend...

We've been working hard to book the best acts to appear at the 2020 festival and are delighted to announce that The Young'uns will be performing at the festival. Teesside trio The Young’uns have always had the human touch. With their strong songs, spellbinding...

After much deliberation, we can announce the Ely Folk Festival 2019 photo competition winners. Congratulations to Rita Jennings and Andy Taylor for their winning entries. The energy, colour and composition of Andy's picture and the fun and exuberance captured in...

Congratulations to Niamh aged 10 who suggested Banjo as a name for the dog who features on our logo. Banjo is the winning entry in our Name the Festival Dog Competition for younger festival visitors this year. We had 54 great suggestions showing lots of imagination...

Some images of the different aspects of Ely Folk Festival 2019 courtesy of Andrew Moore, Dave Streatfield & Tom Smith...more to foll              

From a melodic opening by festival band competition winner Tell Tale Tusk, via the energetic Gerry Colvin Band and storming Scottish band TIde Lines, the first day of Ely Folk Festival 2019 ended with an energising ceilidh with Melrose Ceilidh Band. Today, Les Barker...

Ferocious Dog; Cara Dillon; Oysterband; Martin Carthy; Nancy Kerr; Martin Harley; Gerry Colvin Band; Joshua Burnell Band; Jackie Oates; Tide Lines … just some of the evening acts appearing over this coming weekend. Tickets prices from £27 and selling fast.

Morris dancing has been an important element of Ely Folk Festival right from its earliest days - reflecting the diverse range of English traditional dance and how it has evolved as a living tradition. This year we have a great section of morris teams from all around...

Things are hotting up with only two weeks to go until Ely Folk Festival. On Sunday 7 July, come along and take part in a FREE family friendly drop-in workshop between 1-3pm at Babylon Gallery along Ely riverside, delivered by Ruth Marley from Re-imagine, courtesy of...

We're delighted to announce that Tell Tale Tusk are the winners of the 2019 Band Competition. This female group based in North London weave spellbinding three-part vocal harmonies around melodious instrumentals to create a take on folk that is bold and original, as...

Cambridgeshire singer song writer Soloman Smith writes and performs folk songs flavoured with soul, jazz, funk, country and more! He has been involved with music for some 30 plus years in one guise or another and has been lucky enough to share stages/bills with some...

Congratulations to the winners of our Youth Challenge competition 2019 - Jasmine Canham; Abhainn & Oliver Cross.  At sixteen years old, Jasmine is a young and upcoming singer from Suffolk who is starting to make her mark on the local music industry. As a writer,...

Kids love Ely Folk Festival as there’s so much to do… crafts…music…story-telling…yoga…family concert…kids procession…games…fun…play…and lots more. Parents love Ely Folk Festival as the festival arena is compact and it’s easy to keep an eye on your little ones while...

At the festival AGM earlier this week, Andy Wall chair of the festival committee presented a cheque for £1105.25 to Gavin Chappell Bates from Centre 33. Centre 33 was our chosen local charity to support at the 2018 festival. The festival was delighted to support this...

Our chosen local charity to support this year is Care Network Cambridgeshire. CNC aims to help people to stay healthy, independent and in touch with their communities. Its volunteers provide ‘Help at Home’ a free service supporting people in their own homes after a...

We have now launched our Band Competition and Youth Challenge Competition for 2019. We are keen to encourage to promote and give a festival performance platform to great new acts and talented young people in the area of folk and roots act. The prize is a performance...

Hurrah! After months of planning the 2019 festival, the box office is ready to open. The sunny days of July may seem a long way off, but what better antidote to the current cold spell than treating yourself to a ticket for Ely Folk Festival. Tickets are available for...

The Rogue Shanty Buoys are an energetic sea shanties group based in rural Suffolk with an unmistakably bold and original sound and an emphasis on tight harmonies, strong vocals and unfussy arrangements. They perform authentic Sea shanties and sea songs, whaling arias,...

Martin Harley is a supremely talented acoustic roots and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter with a burgeoning global reputation. Recently Martin has headlined Music City Roots in Nashville, performed on the Cayamo Cruise with Chris Stapleton, toured coast to coast...

We wish all friends, volunteers & supporters of Ely Folk Festival a very happy, peaceful & musical Christmas & New Year. We look forward to seeing you at our 2019 festival in the company of Oysterband, Cara Dillon, Ferocious Dog, Martin Carthy, Nancy Kerr,...

Ferocious Dog is an English folk punk band from Nottinghamshire. The band provides a full-on six-piece sound that encompasses folk infused with rock, reggae and Celtic vibrations. Ferocious Dog are well known and popular for their high octane live performances. Their...

Oysterband make a modern, folk-based British music, acoustic at heart, sometimes intense, sometimes rocking. Since 1978 they've toured in 35 countries - festivals, concerts, bars, rallies, jails, bring 'em on! - won 5 BBC Folk Awards and made 13 studio albums and one...

As autumn wends its way forward into darker evenings, the 2018 festival seems a long time ago. So, a perfect moment to announce the winners of the 2018 Festival Photo Comp and remind ourselves what a fabulous, hot, chilled out festival it was. Thanks to all who...

Thank you to all who have entered our photo competitions. We're going to enjoy judging them and will announce the winners in due course. We'll be taking the rest of the summer off from festival stuff and will resume service in the autumn. In the meantime, a quick...

Wow! What a weekend - bookended perfectly by our band competition winner Melody Causton and the fabulous Kathryn Tickell and The Lightening. The sun shone down on an amazing collection of musicians, entertainers and artists who played their hearts out. Thank you to...

Fenland storytelling combo the Penland Phezants will be conjuring up the spirit of '66 as their Hereward the Wake tour comes to Ely Folk Festival on July 14th. That's 1066 and the English defeat at Hastings, folks, not the 1966 victory at Wembley, but there are...

We’re working up a bumper list of kids activities for the 2018 festival under the theme of Dreams & Nightmares; and for starters, how about Climb That Tree, the brand new musical show from award-winning songwriter and musician David Gibb. Join David on a musical...

I'm sure we've all seen the publicity in recent times about the drive to reduce single use plastics which is having a harmful effect on sealife. We try and do our bit to be more sustainable at the festival. Some years ago we introduced reusable bar 'glasses' which are...

Dance like a Witchman; learn some easy 'n slow tunes; pick up slide guitar tips from a blues master; hit a bodhran; sing with a Scots woman; step dance with an East Anglian....where can you do this and lots more? Ely Folk Festival ofcourse. Lots of opportunities to...