Purbeck Valley Folk Festival has gone truly international this year with a stellar line-up of acts from around the world.
Headliners include Mexican party band, Los de Abajo, along with Guinea’s N’Famady Kouyaté, a master of the balafon – the traditional wooden xylophone from West Africa, and Gasper Nali from Malawi, who serves up Afro Beats from his one-string, home-made three-metre long Babatoni bass guitar.
There is also a big helping of Americana/country from Amethyst Kiah, The Once, Laura Cortése & the Dance Cards and Dana Wylie.
This year marks the return of global stars to the festival’s five stages after pandemic travel regulations rendered last year’s event as purely domestic.
The festival - from August 18 to 21 at Purbeck Valley Farm off the A351 between Corfe Castle and Harman’s Cross – also features English folk royalty in the shape of top roots duo Show of Hands.
Other stars include veteran Scottish big band Shooglenifty, Radio 2 favourite Kathryn Williams, BBC Folk Award winning Rionnagh Connelly with her funk-folk band Honeyfeet, supergroup Magpie Arc and flute/whistle and uilleann pipes maestro Michael McGoldrick’s band.
Festival director Catherine Burke said: “We are so glad to be back in full flow for PVFF22. Our incredible line-up would do justice to any folk festival and we are especially pleased to welcome back our international artistes.
“Besides the stellar music line-up, there are also an incredible number of non-musical activities for both adults and kids, including the comedy stage starring David Arnold, Dinesh Nathan, Suzy Bennett, Tom Glover and James Ellis.
“What makes us so special? Purbeck Valley Folk Festival is set on a unique and compact farm arena with professional stages in barns. It’s a little farmyard so it doesn’t take you ages to walk from one stage to the other, and it’s always easy to find your friends.”
Children’s activities include storytelling, theatre workshops, fun crafts, puppet shows, bubble displays, baby/toddler rhyme time sessions, face-painting, a treasure hunt, bouncy castles, fancy dress, maypole dancing and Morris dance workshops.
There is also a family ceilidh, space-hopper obstacle course, welly wanging, and circus skills performances and workshops, including juggling, diablo, devil’s sticks, unicycling, stilt walking, low level trapeze, an inflatable tumble mat. And all kids’ activities are free - included in the ticket price, so there are no hidden costs.
And for musical kids there are youth music workshops and ‘Come and Try’ instruments try-outs.
This year workshops are available in crochet, wicker modelling, cyanotype printing, clay modelling/pottery, bunting printing, tie-dye, blacksmithing, traditional woodturning, pebble painting, origami, and more.
Tickets are on sale now from £150 (£75 youth/£30 child) for the weekend Thursday to Sunday, including camping. Any remaining tickets sold at the gate will be £165/£85/£30
See https://www.purbeckvalleyfolkfestival.co.uk/shop/tickets for full details.
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