Sidmouth Folk Festival 2nd – 9th August 2019

It’s that time of year when Sidmouth comes alive to the sounds of foot stomping, bell jangling and fiddle playing. Yes, the Sidmouth Folk Festival 2019 is back for its 65th year!

Between Friday 2nd and Friday 9th August, the festival has a packed programme of over 750 events for both the young and young at heart. You can download the festival programme from here.

Once again, The Royal York & Faulkner Hotel is delighted to be part of the fun-filled week with Music and Song sessions everyday and the Morning Singaround. This is an opportunity to start the day singing or listening with Kitty Vernon and Tim Edwards.  Here is our programme. All our events are free to attend  (donation if possible) and are open to everyone.

Dancing at the Sidmouth Folk Festival 2019

There really is something for everyone at the Sidmouth Folk Festival 2019. For those who want to get up and dance, there are ceilidhs throughout the day. Workshops include: English dance for beginners, American square dancing, Appalachian dance, Rapper dance, Morris dancing, Irish set dancing and Scandanavian dancing. If you’d rather sing, you can join in a Music and Song Session or learn to sing acoustically. There are storytelling workshops, how to play the fiddle workshops and many many more. This is all in addition to the Concert programme that continues throughout the day.

The festival starts each morning around 9.30am and finishes after dark around 1.15am. There are with more than 20 venues around the town, indoor and out.

This year, Blinis Café Bar, adjacent to the hotel, will open throughout the festival. Pop in for a drink, a snack, brunch or lunch.

Single-use plastics

The 2019 festival is trying to be more environmentally sustainable with the introduction of reusable souvenir drinks cups at the bars. No single use plastics at the catering stands and zero waste to landfill through the festival’s new waste management system. Visitors are being encouraged to bring their own reusable drinks bottle and use the Water Refill Points, located at The Ham, the Market Square, below the Cricket Ground, at the Campsite and at The Bulverton (in the Garden area).

Image credit: Marshall Colman Marshall46