Late Spring Folk Festival launches May 24th

A fresh day of musical performances at Dummer Down Brewery in Hampshire

A brand new festival launches next month, on Saturday the 24th of May, at Dummer Down Brewery in Hampshire (RG25 2AR). The festival will feature a number of local and international upcoming talents, including Goblin Band, The Brothers Gillespie, Nick Hart, Maddie Ashman, Spitzer Space Telescope, Dead Pages (the festival’s hosts) and many more supporting acts.

The festival opens its doors at 11am and will run for a full day and evening. There will also be plenty of family-friendly fun and activities, like Morris Dancing with Hook Eagle Morris, face painting with Lauren Mildenberger, a Qi Gong workshop led by Simon J. Lamb, and plenty of other arts & crafts suitable for all ages.

This festival is brought to you by Wiltshire-based traditional folk band Dead Pages, whose song ‘Not Moving On From You’ was recently featured on the BBC’s Introducing… show. Dead Pages was originally a folk club that met for weekly sessions in the corner of a local pub. These gathered some momentum and ended up growing into a new folk scene in the area, with artists regularly travelling from London and further afield for recording sessions and music nights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaKtRRBX7MY

The Late Spring Folk Festival is set to become the biggest event for this team and venue with over 200 tickets already sold as of the end of April and a limited number remaining. Spokesperson for the festival, Sam Guinness, says “We can’t wait to welcome people in and show them what we’ve been planning all these months, there are some quite significant birthdays this year so we’re going all out!”

There will be food trucks and a café with many options for eating throughout the day and evening. The festival is taking place at Dummer Down Brewery, a family-run microbrewery located on Dummer Down Farm in Hampshire. Apart from the range of beers that are made on site, the festival will also be selling local wines, ciders and soft drinks. There will also be camping available at the festival, with available running water and toilets (more information on this on their website).

You can read more about the festival on its website and follow Dead Pages’ journey on their Instagram, Spotify and YouTube.

By Alba McVicar Reyes

Edinburgh Tradfest Kicks Off Next Friday

Tradfest returns to Edinburgh to showcase Scotland’s wealth of talent with 11 days of music, film and storytelling!

The acclaimed Scottish festival, Edinburgh Tradfest, will return from May 2nd to May 12th 2025 to showcase the very best in traditional arts. Its schedule is jam-packed with incredible acts from traditional (and adjacent) musicians, performed at The Traverse Theatre and other venues in Edinburgh, and a wide array of film and other storytelling-inspired events taking place across the city, thanks to the continued support from The National Lottery through Creative Scotland and the William Grant Foundation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wUF27lSXyA

Promotional video for Edinburgh Tradfest 2025.

The Festival opens with a bang at The Queen’s Hall, thanks to “one of the most inventive spirits on the contemporary folk scene” piper Ross Ainslie and the Sanctuary Band. Terra Kin (aka Hannah Findlay), who will be supporting Ainslie, has been a dynamic force in Glasgow’s jazz, folk and pop scenes for many years, and will be joined by the following master musicians for their opening act: Su-a-Lee (cello), Roo Geddes (violin), Emma Pantel (violin), and Sarah Hanniffy (viola).

Other opening weekend highlights include Saturday’s performance by the Leveret trio, who are some of the finest tunesmiths in modern folk music (with Andy Cutting on melodeon, Sam Sweeney on fiddle, and Rob Harbron on English concertina); and a rich and darkly-toned fiddle performence by Lauren MacColl on May 4th, who will be joined by Rachel Newton (harp), Anna Massie (guitar), Mhairi Hall (piano), Mairearad Green (accordion) and James Lindsay (bass).

Other hot tickets include: The Traveling Janes; BBC Scotland’s Young Trad Winner Ellie Beaton; Seckou Keita (dubbed the ‘Hendrix of the kora’); Virginia’s finest string band The Hot Seats; piping legends the Finlay Macdonald Band; national treasures the Siobhan Miller Band; and singer, broadcaster and cultural ambassador Joy Dunlop, who is this year’s Rebellious Truth guest. 

This year’s festival commission on Monday night is For the Love of Trees, featuring new tunes and old by Mary Macmaster (The Poozies) and Donald Hay.  This includes The Cedar, Silent, a new piece about the tallest tree in Edinburgh’s Botanic Gardens that was felled by Storm Éowyn earlier this year, The Trees by rock band Pulp, and Chraobh nan Ubhal, a traditional Gaelic waulking song. Joining them will be a super group of Scottish traditional musicians: Amy MacDougall (vocals, sampling), Mairearad Green (accordion, pipes, vocals), Pete Harvey (cello) and Ciaran Ryan (banjo/fiddle/guitar); as well as special guest Fiona Soe Paing who will open the concert with a selection of her electro alt-folk sounds.

Plus, on May 3rd, folk musicians playing at any level can take part in #WorldPlayAStrathspeyDay by uploading a strathspey tune online using this hashtag, or by joining fiddlers Anna Robertson, Catriona Price, Adam Sutherland and pianist extraordinaire Rory Matheson for a live afternoon of gorgeous Scottish music. Alternatively, there is also the traditional May Day Parade which sets off down the Royal Mile on May 3rd at mid-day and finishes with a rally, music and speeches.

Fans of traditional storytelling arts can also enjoy events at the Scottish Storytelling Centre including an introduction to Gaelic storytelling with the University of Edinburgh’s first Gaelic Writer in Residence Martin MacIntyre, and much more. In addition, storyteller Inez Álvarez Villa of TuFlamenco presents a tribute to Federico García Lorca, Spain’s most iconic poet, told through poetry and traditional flamenco dance. There will also be a Folk Film Gatherin’ on May 11th, remembering the late Douglas Eadie at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, and a performance from national treasure and London’s West End Macbeth actress Kathleen MacInnes on May 9th, at The Traverse Theatre.

Douglas Robertson and Jane-Ann Purdy, co-producers of Edinburgh Tradfest said:

“This year’s line-up represents the wealth of Scottish musical talent with some very  special visitors from England and overseas. The breadth of musical brilliance that will open the festival next Friday at the Queens Hall is incredible, and reflects the festival’s strength of programme and position as a key player in Scotland’s year-round calendar of unmissable events. Be there!” 

You can find the schedule and more information on Tradfest’s website, or follow the festival on Facebook and Instagram.

By Alba McVicar Reyes

Sandy Kilpatrick comes home to Glasgow's King Tut's

Celebrated Scottish troubadour Sandy Kilpatrick is celebrating 25 years in the music industry with the release of his latest single 'The Spark' and a homecoming show at Glasgow's iconic King Tut's Wah Wah Hut on April 21st.

This show is a part of The Glasgow Songwriter Round, a monthly event held at King Tut's. The 'Round' celebrates local singers and the art of songwriting with a Nashville-inspired circle approach and a generous pinch of Glaswegian charm. This April show also features local up-and-coming artists Kirsteen Harvey, Sarah Jane Scouten and Venus As A Boy.

The show will take place on Monday the 21st of April. Doors open at 6pm for the bar, and at 7pm for the venue. Tickets are free, so make sure to arrive in time to get inside before the venue is at capacity! And, in case you miss the show, Folk & Honey's Scottish Editor will be attending and posting a review on our website in the days following the show. Stay tuned!

Following the success of his single ´Mesmerised´ and his stunning solo performance at Sofar Sounds in Newcastle, Sandy presents ´The Spark´ as the most powerful love song of his career. The single is deeply personal and universally relatable, an ode to the profound impact that love and art can have on an individual´s life and an exploration of the liberation one experiences through intimate love. It also showcases Kilpatrick´s song writing mastery and superb lyricism, as well as the instrumental prowess of long-term collaborators André Silvestre and João Robim and guest musician Aurora Miranda.

´The Spark´, along with previous releases like ´Mesmerised´ and ´The Meditation Stone´, firmly cements Sandy Kilpatrick as a graceful, introspective and authentic voice in the indie and alternative folk scene. After a slow-burning career delighting international audiences from Portugal to Manchester throughout the past 25 years, it seems as if Sandy has released another song that confirms his place as a world-class songwriter.

You can check out ´The Spark´ here, and follow Sandy´s journey here.