We’re excited that Wear’d Aliens will be playing at our family ceilidh again this year on the Saturday afternoon of our festival (on Saturday 26th September). Wear’d Aliens was established in 2019, inspired by the rediscovery of the Collingwood Collection, a family tune book tracing over 100 years of musical heritage in Weardale. Together with an ever-expanding group of young musicians, they breathe new life into distinctly local music that had lain hidden in a dusty corner o

“Seriously stylish playing that’s putting the sparkle back into the tradition”  Verity Sharp, Late Junction We are really excited to be announcing that Methera will be performing on the Sunday afternoon of our 2026 festival. Methera is a unique ensemble: a string quartet with roots firmly planted in English traditional music. Their national tours, BBC Radio 3 broadcasts and collaborations have helped them establish a reputation as a scintillating live act, blazing a trail thr

We are thrilled to announce that RE:VULVA will be playing on the Saturday night of our festival weekend. RE:VULVA are a  dynamic four piece fueling the uk folk revolution. This quartet comes fully loaded with talent, taking aim at hyper-masculine culture in music. The band features Janice Burns on mandolin, Holly Clarke on vocals and guitar, Cathy Geldard on fiddle and Amy Thatcher on synth and drum pad. These dazzling, talented women present virtuosity, strength, and power i

We are excited to be announcing that Sura Susso will be performing on the Saturday afternoon of our 2026 festival. Sura Susso was born in The Gambia, into a family of griots. Griots, referred to in Mandinka as Jali, are cultural figures in society across West Africa who carry the cultural knowledge and identity of the people. His father, Mamudou Susso, is a renowned kora player in The Gambia, and his late mother, Fatou Bintu Cissokho, originally from the Casamance region of S

'Sonically exquisite’ The Guardian We are thrilled to announce that Chris and Catriona will be playing on the Saturday afternoon of the Allen Valleys Folk Festival. This award winning duo have taken the most traditional of Scottish instruments and catapulted them into the contemporary world of music making. A 30 year long telepathy sees Chris and Catriona weave their way seamlessly between glorious soundscapes and music of breathtaking simplicity. The intense and rugged coast

We are beyond excited to be announcing that Lady Maisery will be performing on the Saturday afternoon of our 2026 festival. The combined vocal and multi-instrumental talents of Rowan Rheingans, Hazel Askew and Hannah James make up the uniquely captivating band Lady Maisery who have for well over a decade enraptured audiences throughout the UK and Europe.Individually three multi award-winning artists, Lady Maisery form a unified voice, carrying stories of sisterhood, human str

We are thrilled to announce that the legendary Joshua Burnside will be headlining the Allen Valleys Folk Festival stage on the Friday night of our festival. Joshua Burnside is an experimental folk songwriter, singer and producer. He takes influence from alternative electronica and Irish folk, chopping and blending them with a mixture of found sounds, world music and unorthodox production methods. Following an award-winning debut album and an acclaimed follow-up released durin

We are beyond excited to be announcing Valtos as our headline act for the Saturday night of our 2026 festival. Many of you will already know and love their music, and so can understand how thrilled we are to be welcoming them to Allendale. Valtos are Skye natives Daniel Docherty and Martyn MacDonald, and they have taken the Trad and Electronic music worlds by storm. Since their debut shows in December 2021, they have entertained audiences at festivals and sold-out venues nati

We have organised a local sale of festival weekend passes for the morning of Saturday 21st March at St. Cuthbert’s Church Hall in Allendale between 10:00am and 12:00noon. We will be selling adult festival weekend passes and youth festival weekend passes, for those aged between 12 years and 24 years. There will also be festival weekend passes on sale from 7:00pm on the evening of Sunday 22nd March online via Gigantic Tickets. The payment by instalments scheme will be available

A belated ‘Happy New Year’ to you and yours and we hope you have a brilliant 2026. Thanks to everyone who came to Hedgehog’s Skin’s New Year’s Eve Party at Allendale Village Hall and thanks to Joey and David and all the members of Hedgehog’s Skin, Hadrian Clog, Ollie, our piper and all the village hall volunteers for making the evening such a success. THANK YOU! Photo of the Tar Bar’ls celebrations in Allendale on New Year’s Eve by James Little Photography.

Wishing a Happy Christmas to you and your family. Enjoy the festive cheer! Here’s to 2026 and a fantastic year ahead, filled with great music and unforgettable performances. Thanks and all the best, Craig, Kate, Caitlin,  Phillip, Nick, Oran, Tim, Sue, Peter, Glynn, Hollie, Bryony and Kerry The Allen Valleys Folk Festival

Thanks to everyone who joined us for mulled wine, mince pies and a lovely evening of music and song. It was lovely to see so many familiar faces in the audience. And a special thanks to Janice and Jon and the Dale Singers. You were brilliant!

Join us for mulled wine, mince pies and a lovely evening of music and song. The Allen Valleys Folk Festival’s Christmas Concert with Janice Burns and Jon Doran and the Dale Singers takes place at Allendale Village Hall on the evening of Saturday 6th December. Tickets are now available locally at the Allendale Co-op and online . We hope to see you next Saturday!

All of us at the Allen Valleys Folk Festival are so so saddened to learn of the death of Archie Fisher. Archie was a Folk legend. He was a singer, songwriter and guitarist and had presented BBC Radio Scotland's Travelling Folk. He was also a musical mentor to many and a huge cultural icon in Scotland. We have such fond memories of Archie playing on the Sunday afternoon of our 2023 festival. Our thoughts are with Archie’s family and all of his friends at this very sad time. Re

Our Christmas Concert with Janice Burns and Jon Doran and the Dale Singers takes place at Allendale Village Hall on the evening of Saturday 6th December. Join us for mulled wine, mince pies and a lovely evening of music and song. Tickets are now available locally at the Allendale Co-op and online. The link for the Christmas Concert is below: https://www.gigantic.com/christmas-concert-with-janice-burns-and-jon-doran-and-the-dale-singers-tickets/allendale-allendale-village-hall

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We’re a bit ‘taken aback’ by the speed that our New Year’s Eve Ceilidh sold out at our local sale of tickets at St. Cuthbert’s Church Hall yesterday morning. All tickets for the ceilidh were sold just after an hour of going on sale. We apologise again to those that travelled to Allendale only to find that all the tickets had gone and for those that were hoping for an online sale of remaining tickets. Sorry. https://www.allenvalleysfolkfestival.co.uk/newyearseveveilidh

Our Christmas Concert with Janice Burns and Jon Doran and the Dale Singers takes place at Allendale Village Hall on the evening of Saturday 6th December and Hedgehog’s Skin’s New Year’s Eve Party, our New Year’s Eve Ceilidh, takes place at the same venue on the evening of Wednesday 31st December. You will be able to buy tickets for both events at a local sale on Saturday between 10:00am and 12:00noon at St. Cuthbert’s Church Hall in Allendale. Any remaining tickets not sold a

Our Christmas Concert with Janice Burns and Jon Doran and the Dale Singers takes place at Allendale Village Hall on the evening of Saturday 6th December and Hedgehog’s Skin’s New Year’s Eve Party, our new year’s eve ceilidh takes place at the same venue on the evening of Wednesday 31st December. You will be able to buy tickets for both events at a local sale on the morning of Saturday 1st November between 10:00am and 12:00noon at St. Cuthbert’s Church Hall in Allendale. Any r

Feminist electrofolk musician and producer and Guardian 'One to Watch' Frankie Archer will be playing at Allendale Village Hall on the...