This year's festival programme
Friday Evening
7.30pm - Jordan Aikin & Quercus - Allendale Village Hall
9:00pm - Rachael McShane & The Cartographers - Allendale Village Hall
10.00pm - The Hilltop Hoolies - Venue TBC
Jordan Aitkin & Quercus are an exciting contemporary folk quintet based in Newcastle. Diverging from traditional acoustic sounds, they've embraced a bold new direction, infusing their music with the electrifying energy of electric guitars, bass, and drums, complemented by a dynamic frontline of bagpipes, accordion, and whistle.
At the helm is composer Jordan Aikin, whose distinctive style propels contemporary folk music into uncharted territory. With a mission to intertwine the traditional melodies of their upbringing with a broader musical palette, they craft kaleidoscopic arrangements that span a spectrum of influences, redefining the folk music experience for a new generation.
The ensemble, comprising Jordan on bagpipes and whistle, Heather Ferrier on accordion, Alasdair Paul on guitar, Bevan Morris on bass, and Adam Stapleford on drums, forms a tight-knit craic team of musicians. Together, they breathe life into Aikin's compositions, drawing inspiration from his personal connections and weaving tales of bygone eras with a contemporary edge, ablaze with passion and vitality.
Rachael McShane is a renowned folk singer, cellist, fiddle and viola player from the North East of England. She gained fame as an original member of the award-winning folk big band Bellowhead.
She also is the leader of The Cartographers, a band that features the exceptional talents of guitarist Ian Stephenson (Kan, Baltic Crossing), and melodeon player Julian Sutton (Kathryn Tickell, Sting). Their music is a powerful blend of traditional folk and contemporary sounds, with Rachael's stunning voice and instrumental skills leading the line. The Cartographers have garnered a loyal following thanks to their impressive live performances and critically acclaimed albums.
The Hilltop Hoolies play a gig in one of our local pubs on the Friday night of our festival. They first came together in 2024, uniting a diverse group of musicians who shared a passion for authentic Americana. Each member brings their unique influences and experiences, weaving together heartfelt lyrics, intricate harmonies, and dynamic instrumentation.
Saturday Afternoon
12.00noon - Cosys Ex - Allendale Village Hall
1.30pm - Eabhal - Allendale Village Hall
3.00pm - Con'tylia - St. Cuthbert's Church
4.30pm - Songs We Carry - St. Cuthbert's Church
4.00pm - Family Ceilidh (The Wear'd Aliens) - Allendale Village Hall
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Cosys Ex are a collective of musicians and producers; founded in Newcastle, with a fusion of genres and players from a traditional Scottish and English backgrounds along with more contemporary electronic and jazz influences, backed up with rich vocal harmonies and earth moving frequencies.
Eabhal have made a significant impact on the Scottish music scene with their vibrant and energetic folk music. The band's distinctive West Coast sound and dedication to their craft have earned them a prestigious Folk Band of the Year nomination in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2022 amongst multiple other awards and nominations over the past 10 years.
Eabhal have released two albums to date, the debut This is How The Ladies Dance in 2018 and the second Aisling, which was released in 2022 and showcased an array of new arrangements and both Gaelic and English songs. The band's focus on kinship and connection to people and land, elevation, journeys and language are all reflected in their music and identity. Although they all come from different backgrounds and places, each member was immersed in traditional music, and their collective passion for their craft is evident in every song and performance.
Current members are Kaitlin Ross (Vocals), Megan MacDonald (Accordion), Nicky Kirk (Guitar), Robbie Greig (Fiddle), and Ewan Duncan (Pipes & Whistle).
The voices of Con’tylia, accompanied by the strings of a Cretan laouto, guitars and hand drums, aim to explore the wonders of Greek folk music ranging from ambient and passionate ballads to lively Greek island dances. Through exploring decades of Greek traditional compositions, Minor Asian scales and archaic rhythms, Con'tylia merge these elements in a unique way through improvised instrumentation and harmonic vocals.
The four member piece, sing solos, duets and quartets, to create polyphonic melodies and vocal interactions that explore the intricacies of the East Mediterranean region.
Acclaimed British singer and multi-instrumentalist Ana Silvera and Palestinian composer, Oud virtuoso and singer Saied Silbak join creative forces for Songs We Carry, a collaboration exploring the common ground between their heritages - the emotive, melancholy of Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) music and the rich Maqams and intricate melodies of Arabic song.
For Ana Silvera, this project is deeply personal, rooted in her family's history as Jewish refugees of the Spanish Inquisition, who resettled in Aleppo (then part of the Ottoman Empire) in the 18th century. Ladino, the language that Ana sings in is a UNESCO endangered language, and many of the songs she shares have been almost completely lost in time - until now. Silvera’s resurrection of these ancestral songs offers a glimpse into the resilience and beauty of her heritage; her talent for rendering these ancient melodies afresh also gestures to her work as a singer-songwriter, a path that has earned her praise from discerning critics including The Guardian, who have lauded her work as "stunning... magical storytelling.”
Meanwhile, Saied Silbak's journey from Shafaa’mr, a city located in the lower Galilee of occupied Palestine, to the cosmopolitan landscape of London infuses his artistry with a profound understanding of diverse musical traditions. With virtuosity honed through a lifetime of exploration, Silbak masterfully melds Arabic, Turkish, and Indian influences with Western styles, crafting a signature sound that transcends borders.
Saturday Evening
6:30pm - WOLF bonfire - Village Square
8.30pm - Zawose Queens - Allendale Village Hall
10:00pm - Bonfire Radicals - Allendale Village Hall
The burning of the wolf bonfire will take place in the Marketplace. The burning will be accompanied by music and a procession.
The electrifying sound of 6 piece (un)traditional folk band Bonfire Radicals is both intensely creative and irresistibly fun. Expect the unexpected, with global grooves, instrumental fireworks, rich vocal harmonies and delicate a cappella emerging from a melting pot of original and traditional tunes from the British Isles to the Balkans.
Emotive vocals, textural washes, intricate woodwind and fierce fiddle are woven together over a pulsating backdrop of guitar, bass and drums. Bonfire Radicals’ music dares their audiences not to dance.
There is spirit and fire in the music of The Zawose Queens. There's the vibrations of the ancestors, coming through on traditional instruments — soaring chizeze fiddle, buzzing illimba thumb piano, ngoma drums that chatter and thunder — and voices that go deep, high and out there. There's the connection to nature, to ceremony and ritual, in their dance-inspired fusion, their blend of the organic, harmonic and modern-day electronic. There are lyrics that tell, in their native kigogo, of the passion for music, the wonders of life. Of pride in environment, in tradition. In their East African roots.
Sunday Afternoon
1:00pm - Sherburn Bartley Sanders - Allendale Village Hall
2:30pm - Hedera - Allendale Village Hall
4:00pm - Cosmo Sheldrake - Allendale Village Hall
Sherburn Bartley Sanders are collectively and affectionately known as “The Voice of the Moors.” Chris (Concertina) and Denny (Vocals and Guitar) have brought their unique sound to audiences across the globe since 1993. In 2016, they joined forces with Emily (Fiddle and Vocals) blending vocal harmonies and strings to their unique sound.
Their soulful songs, exhilarating tunes and quick-witted banter ensures no two concerts are ever the same.
Hedera is a (mostly) instrumental project from Bristol featuring Lulu Austin(violin), Maisie Brett (violin, viola), Tamsin Elliott (accordion, harp), Beth Roberts (double bass, violin) and Isis Wolf-Light (clarinets). They perform original and traditional pieces inspired by music from England, Scotland, France, Bali, Georgia, Bulgaria, Ethiopia and beyond, translated through a prism of experimental minimalism and contemporary classical influences.
Cosmo Sheldrake is a UK-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, live improviser, and field recordist. His music ranges widely from celebratory anthems to soulful elegies to riotous party numbers, to sparse electronic production, to haunting polyphonic songs that have grown out of field recordings of birds, whales, fish, frogs, and fungi, and more.
Running through all his work is a belief that the living world is a noisy and musical place with the power to change how we think, feel, and imagine. Together with his human and non-human collaborators, Cosmo creates music that speaks to the urgency and possibility of our times.
