A MUSIC-PACKED evening of song and banter will be a part of Lyme Folk's finale on Sunday August 23.

Jim Causley and Friends will host an evening celebrating the West Country with How the West was Sung, supported by Six Days, the Lyme-based brother and sister duo making big waves on the folk circuit.

Treading the boards with Jim, the festival's patron and award-winning singer-songwriter, will be Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll, a fiddling duo from North Devon and Bridport. Also providing musical entertainment will be Thorn and Roses, an acapello trio from Cornwall; Maggie Duffy and Mike Weed, a singer/songsmith from Brixham and accompanist, and the award-winning boys from East Dorset, Ninebarrow.

How The West Was Sung celebrates the diversity of the West Country, from the rugged upland Moors of its interior to the gentle seas around Lyme Bay.

With songs of murder most foul in Chagford, happenings in an alleyway in Port Isaac or a Honiton lace-makers lament, the music documents the legends, work and people of the West, whether on land or sea.

Jim said: "The evening showcases our great home-grown talent sharing the region’s strong oral traditions of funny, sad and illuminating musical stories to bring our wonderful West to life on stage."

Julie Sheppard, the festival’s publicist, said: "This is a musical extravaganza – it’s like another mini-festival, with nine individual artists, all sharing a stage at the same time, singing and playing in the round about the characters and landscapes they come from and care about.

"It’ll be fun, moving and hugely entertaining. And what’s the odds on a rousing song celebrating cider at some point in the evening?”

This year’s folk festival, now in its third summer, has a full programme of singing, dancing and music–making at Marine Theatre and other venues around the town.

Tickets are available from Lyme Regis Tourist Information Centre. See lymefolk.com for more details.