A folk festival will return to Oxford for the first time in four years.
Folk Weekend Oxford returns to the city this weekend (April 22 to 24) with its first in-person event since 2018.
Running since 2012, Folk Weekend Oxford is a community festival which was forced to go online with just a few weeks’ notice because of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
READ MORE: Strictly Come Dancing's Giovanni Pernice to perform in Oxford
As well as the ticketed events Folk Weekend Oxford 2022 will present a wide range of free events, with music sessions taking place all weekend, Morris Dancing all over the city, and a full programme of local acts.
Friday kicks off with a performance from Sam Carter and local acts in the Covered Market and Old Fire Station.
On Saturday morning there will be an opening ceremony at the Ashmolean Museum which will kick off the first full day of the festival.
The opening ceremony will also feature two songs that have been commissioned for the festival, an award presentation for Folk Weekend Oxford’s creator Cat McGill who took the festival online in just five weeks and a performance from the festival choir.
On both Saturday and Sunday there will be Morris dancing around the city at locations including Bonn Square, Broad Street and Radcliffe Camera.
Music sessions at various pubs around the city including the White House, Half Moon and Jolly Farmers will see musicians come together, jam and enjoy a drink.
During the weekend there will also be a series of more intimate gigs in the Blue Room above the St Aldate’s Tavern, featuring local and national acts such as Granny’s Attic, Nick Hart, Angeline Morrison, Folkatron Sessions, Moonaroon, Steph West & Paul Rademeyer, the Boot Band, the Kirals, and a trio of solo acts from Big Ginger Tom Music, Patrick Griffin, Anna Renae, and Craig Joiner.
READ MORE: Matt Willis will take to the stage in Oxford next week
Folk Weekend Oxford will also continue its partnership with Oxfolk who will be presenting four dances at St Barnabas Church in Jericho, The Oxford University Ceilidh Band on Friday evening, a family and SEN ceilidh on Saturday morning with Family Ceilidh Oxford and Jane Bird (caller), Reading Balfolk on Saturday afternoon, and Jigfoot with Ian Nichols (caller) on Saturday evening.
The festival will be running a number of workshops at the Pitt Rivers Museum on Saturday, including a tune workshop by Granny’s Attic, a harp workshop by Steph West, a sea shanty workshop with Short Drag Roger, a harmony singing workshop with the Skeptics, and two Family Fun Folk Sessions run by Oxfordshire Music Service.
Full details of line-up and tickets are available through the Folk Weekend Oxford website at www.folkweekendoxford.co.uk.
-
Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here
Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here