Festival News

New bookings for Friday Night Showcase
We're delighted to book The Finn Collinson Band, Kelvin Davies and The Gravy Train as part of our Local Bands Showcase bringing folk rock, blues & ragtime, and some funky organ sounds to the festival's Friday night line-up. Great music on our doorstep.

Chris While & Julie Matthews join 2021 line-up
Alas, covid restrictions on travel mean that Daphne's Flight will be unable to perform at Ely Folk Festival 2021. However, we're absolutely delighted that Chris While & Julie Matthews, two of the members of the band - and two of the most respected names in British...

Celebrating great music
All sound systems are go for a great weekend of music at Ely Folk Festival 2021. The majority of great music acts we had booked for 2020 festival have reconfirmed that they will perform at the 2021 festival. These include Show of Hands, The Young‘uns, Daoiri Farrell,...

Plans for a safe festival site in 2021
We've been working hard to plan a safe and fun festival for 2021 and have highlighted below some of the changes that will be made to the festival site this year. There will be on two outdoor stages – one approximately in the same location as the main marquee in...

Focus on organising 2021 festival
The new year heralds a renewed focus on planning for a safe Ely Folk Festival 2021. We've liaised with council safety advisors on options for reorganising the layout of the festival site to enable us to put on great music in a safe environment. It will mean changes to...

Planning started for 2021 festival
We have started planning for a safe and fabulous 2021 festival. We want to retain the essential character of our bijou, family friendly, fun-filled festival where you can see some of the best folk and roots acts around; and ensure that our visitors, performers,...

A message from Blackbeard’s Tea Party
Fun, fun, fun...Blackbeard's Tea Party's irreverent and humorous take on life inspires the band's music and style. We missed them this year as the 2020 festival was postponed but can't wait to hear them at the 2021 festival. Get a flavour of this wonderful zany band...

Festival flag competition launched
To mark the non-event of Ely Folk Festival 2020, we have decided to run a competition to design a festival flag. So if you fancy seeing your design flutter above the festival site in 2021, get your creative juices flowing and check out the details on how to enter...

A bodhran taster
Master percussionist Cormac Byrne will appear as part of the Show of Hands line-up at the 2021 festival bringing his blistering bodhran skills to the fore. Cormac will also run a bodhran workshop over the weekend. You can get a taster of what is in store by tuning...

Apex box office to contact festival ticket holders
A quick update to advise that starting next week (20th April), the Apex box office will be contacting by email or phone all those who had bought tickets for the 2020 festival to check if they wish to roll-over their tickets to the 2021 festival or prefer to get a...