A POPULAR folk festival is returning to Weymouth later this year.
Wessex Folk Festival returns on the first weekend of June with a jam-packed schedule of events.
This year the free to attend event has changed slightly as it falls on a bank holiday weekend marking the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, meaning on Friday night there will be sessions in various pubs, dancing in the town on Saturday at various sites and on Sunday there will be musical events on the south of the harbourside.
It is thanks to financial support from Weymouth BID, trading as We Are Weymouth, that the event has been allowed to take place following the awarding of a grant.
Dawn Rondeau, We Are Weymouth chief operations officer, said: “We are excited to have the opportunity to support the Folk Festival this year as it returns to the town post-Covid.
“The south harbourside is a vibrant business community within Weymouth and to encourage footfall to this part of the town during these festivities is great news for all those situated there.”
With plans being put in place Wessex Folk Festival, which will take place on Friday, June 3 until Sunday, June 5, it has been announced that six-piece collective Wight Hot Pipes will bring their music to Sunday’s stage in Hope Square, with more performers expected to be announced soon.
A spokesman for the event said: “With a reputation for energising audiences, the six-piece band from the Isle of Wight uses bagpipes to fuse music from all genres from Celtic to dance and rock and claim to have taken piping ‘to the next level’.
“The 2022 Festival will break with the traditional format to tie in with this year’s Jubilee Bank Holiday celebrations.
“Pub sessions and workshops will begin on the Friday night and continue throughout the weekend.
“Morris dancers will be at sites around the town on the Saturday and on the quayside on Sunday.”
A stage in Hope Square will also hosts musical performances throughout Sunday, followed by an outdoor ceilidh in the square so that everyone can end the weekend dancing.
Full details can be found via the Wessex Folk Festival website.
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