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Folk Weekend Oxford 2021

Friday 16th - Sunday 18th April 2021

 

"...one of the county’s best weekends of music." - Oxford Mail

  

Folk Weekend Oxford HQ has been buzzing with activity as we work round the clock to bring you the best most jam-packed weekend of top-notch folk music and dance we possibly can, all available to be beamed straight into your very own living room through the sorcery of the internet.

 

Sounds great. Who’s headlining?

Spiers & Boden, Martin & Eliza Carthy, and Mad Dog Mcrea

 

Nice! Who else is playing?

Faustus, Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman, Naragonia, Jackie Oates & Megan Henwood, Hannah James & Toby Kuhn

 

Anything else?

Only Peggy Seeger in conversation with Jackie Oates!

 

Wow. That’s amazing. But that’s everything, right?

Wrong! We also have an International Fiddle Extravaganza, an Oxford International Links showcase featuring music from Bonn and Grenoble, a local artists showcase, dance events from OxFolk, and a live and newly composed soundtrack to the 1922 film Nosferatu.

 

That all sounds pretty cool! But there won’t be anything available for free will there?

Are you kidding! We have over 30 hours of music streamed from our Facebook page (see the line-up here), regular video drops throughout the weekend on our YouTube channel, and sessions on all three days on our dedicated session channel.

 

I like it! How do I get tickets?

See our programme and book tickets here. See you online in April.

Folk Weekend Oxford 2021 is produced in partnership with Oxfolk, The North Wall Arts Centre, and Live To Your Living Room.

Folk Weekend Oxford 2021 is produced in pleased to acknowledge the generous sponsorship of Acorn Instruments (https://acorninstruments.co.uk/) and the support of the University of Oxford's Small Community Grants scheme. 

 

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Introducing our patrons

We are delighted to have two outstanding local folk artists as our festival patrons; Jackie Oates has been with us since 2013, and she was joined in 2016 by John Spiers, of Bellowhead and Spiers and Boden.


Jackie is a singer and fiddle player hailing from Staffordshire and now living in Oxford. Her unique treatment of English ballads and songs, and pure, haunting singing style has attracted increasing attention. Since appearing as a finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards 2003, she has performed extensively at festivals and folk clubs across the country, in a solo capacity and with a number of bands. Her second album 'The Violet Hour' was one of the Top 10 on the Mojo folk album of the year chart in 2008, followed by 'Hyperboreans' reaching number five in the chart the following year. Also in 2009 Jackie won two BBC Folk Awards - The Horizon Award for best new comer, and the Best Traditional Track Award. She is currently singing with her own band, and touring as a member of The Imagined Village alongside Eliza Carthy. When not busy with all this Jackie dances with Summertown Morris and knits a lot!

 

John Spiers, known better in folk circles as Squeezy, has made a name for himself as one of the leading squeezebox players of his generation.  Well known for his long-standing duo partnership with Jon Boden in the formidable Spiers & Boden as well as his contribution to the massively popular Bellowhead, John has also played with Eliza Carthy’s Ratcatchers and a number of local folk-dance bands.

John was born in Birmingham, but moved to Abingdon in Oxfordshire at an early age where his association with the traditional folk music and dance of the region began. His road to success all started when he met Jon Boden at a folk session in the Fir Tree pub on Iffley Road in the late 90s; by 1999 they started performing together as Spiers & Boden and were quickly signed to Fellside records. 2004 saw the duo join 9 other friends to create the explosive ‘Bellowhead’ who have cooked up a storm on festival stages UK wide ever since. Bellowhead went on to win several BBC Radio 2 folk awards for Best Live Act and Best Group, and their album 'Revival' entered the UK album charts at number 12, before they sadly parted ways in 2016. 

Merch!

We had some amazing SPECIAL EDITION festival merch available for the 2020 lockdown festival.  They are still available if you want a momento of that unique weekend - click here to browse!  

Folky Fundraisers

We have a number folky fundraisers throughout the year - from Christmas Concerts and workshops to Family Ceilidhs. Supporting Folk Weekend whilst having a fabulous time - what could be better?!

Support Folk Weekend as you Shop!

An easy way of supporting Folk Weekend without costing you a penny! Once you have registered with Easyfundraising, every time you shop online a small donation will be made towards Folk Weekend by the participating retailers. If you ever needed an excuse to go shopping then here it is! Sign up with Easyfundraising now!

Morris at Folk Weekend

In normal times we are always delighted to welcome Morris dancers to Folk Weekend, who perform in the streets and at fantastic locations across the City centre including the Botanic Gardens and the Ashmolean Museum. Things are a litte different at the moment, but Morris will return.  For more information, go to our Morris page.