I hope you enjoyed all the Mayday events on offer earlier this month which Unicorn Folk almost totally failed to highlight or preview mainly because domestic events have overshadowed the last month or so and this blog is long overdue but at least in time for the late May bank holiday!
I missed seeing Bob Fox at Royston Live at the end of April owing to those domestic events but it is nice to hear that the club has secured a place in Club Corner at Cambridge Folk Festival on Sunday 2nd August. An excellent line-up has been curated for the occasion consisting of Causton, Walker & Broady; Clark & Johnson; Ellie Walker; Jeremy Harmer; Pat Crilly & Peter Crossley and Wickenwood and their club slot runs from 14.30 to 17.30.
I did manage to get to the Honey and the Bear concert at Cambridge Junction on 22nd April and they were excellent as you will see from my review of that concert elsewhere on the Unicorn Folk website and I have also completed the review of their latest CD A wish and a tide HERE and both can be found under the ‘Music’ tab on the top menu on Unicorn Folk.
There is a new updated version of the Unicorn Diary available amongst the Listings on the top menu and that includes more details about the programmes for the Four Rivers Folk Club and Watford Folk Club which were not previously available. It’s also good to see St Andrew’s Church in Hertford running folk events again after the sad passing of organiser Chris Seward last year and they have Gryphon in concert on Thursday 4th June. To pick out another upcoming top class gig from the Unicorn Diary you can see John Kirkpatrick on Friday 29th May at the Everyman Folk Club in Saxmundham and I’m looking forward to seeing The Waite Collective for the first time at Royston Live the previous night.
There are links to the websites and gig lists at all the clubs featured in the Unicorn Diary and if your folk club is missing it’s programme can be included free of charge on request using the email address info@unicornfolk.uk.
If you are going to Chester or Cheltenham Folk Festivals then you are probably already there but there are more in the Festival Finder in the Listings at the end of the month and, more locally, in 2 weeks time that includes Edlefest in Buckinghamshire and St Alban’s Folk Festival.
If you are in the vicinity of Thaxted at the end of May you may wish to visit the 99th Thaxted Weekend of Dance which I remember as being great fun for performers and spectators alike and that is after an interval of 49 years as I danced for Bath City Morris at the 50th Thaxted Weekend of Dance. The massed Winster Processional on the Saturday with all the Morris sides taking part actually featured on the front page of the Sunday Times that year (1977) and I remember being mildly disappointed because Bath City Morris missed out on the photo by about 50 yards!
Speaking of Morris matters I have finally put together a Dance Diary in my immediate region for the coming summer which you can find with the other ‘Listings’ on the top menu or sidebar on Unicorn Folk. I would have included Thaxted Morris but as they only have an image of their programme on their website it is a lot of work to input all the details. However, they and any other side are welcome to send in a list of their event dates for 2026 ideally in a similar format to the Dance Diary in either a Word or Excel file. I will also include EFDSS sides and any other folk oriented dance societies that care to send in their event lists to info@unicornfolk.uk.
Finally, Filby’s Folk is back with Show 117 featuring a host of new music from Honey and the Bear, Jim Moray, Emily Portman, Lady Maisery (with Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith) plus more new album releases from lesser known but interesting and accomplished individual artists and bands.
Enjoy your bank holiday weekend!