Unicorn Folk News

We’re starting to arrive at that time of year when many folk clubs close down for the summer and the festival season takes over, however, there are still quite a few events at the clubs before the summer break really starts to kick in, if you will excuse the terminology as I have clearly been watching too much World Cup football!

I am actually off to Royston Live Folk Club tonight as despite the sweltering weather the John Ward Trio always provide an entertaining evening of music and this is the penultimate session before the club closes in August then opens up again in late September with Thursday’s Band providing the music for a concert which is part of Royston Arts Festival.

The Bishop’s Stortford Acoustic Club is one of those going through the summer without a break and their regular nights are usually the second and last Thursdays in the month and tonight they have a double headline showcase with M G Boulter and Paul Ambrose plus Fourgone Confusion. Also, over in that direction of our region is Vikki Clayton appearing at St Andrew’s Church, Hertford on Thursday 2^nd July. You can find all the above listed in the Unicorn Diary in the Listings on the front page of the main Unicorn Folk website.

A little further afield there is a new club launching at The Red Lion in Manningtree on Friday 26 June 2026, the Many Trees Folk & Dance Club starting with a guided dance followed by a social dance session. Later in the year the club hope to start booking folk artists for concerts. Links to their website are in Featured Events where you can also find a host of other events going on around the region, some of them with FREE entry including one this coming Sunday 28th June – an afternoon of music, song and dance presented by the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust at Long Melford Memorial Hall in Suffolk.

Turning now to festivals there are two excellent one day festivals coming soon in our region, the first of which is Bury Folk Festival on Saturday 27^th June featuring some really good artists including … well, actually there are a lot of good artists appearing so have a look yourself using the link in the Festival Finder in the Listings on the front page of the main Unicorn Folk website. Much the same can be said of Kimpton Folk Festival the following Saturday 4^th July and a link can also be found in the Festival Finder and the following weekend the 40^th Ely Folk Festival will take place. More on that next time but you can find details using the link in the Featured Events section.

If dance is more your scene then new dates have been added to the Dance Diary in the Listings to include Peterborough Morris who will be dancing at the aforementioned Ely Folk Festival along with a lot of other Morris sides at various times throughout.

Finally, Filby’s Folk is back with Show 118 featuring yet another host of new music from a variety of talented artists some of whose albums have already reached the UK Folk Album Charts and others are sure to follow the same path. Be in the know and listen to them first on Filby’s Folk – just click on ‘Podcasts’ on the main top menu.

Enjoy the football!

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 2^nd 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 22^nd 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 4^th June. To pick out another upcoming top class gig from the Unicorn Diary you can see John Kirkpatrick on Friday 29^th 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 50^th 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!

Unicorn Ceilidhs are celebrating their 25^th Anniversary this year having started life way back in 2001 when they were based in Hitchin and yes, I think there is a connection between Unicorn Folk and Unicorn Ceilidhs going back to the founding fathers of Unicorn Magazine some of whom, Alan Creamer for one, were involved with setting up the ceilidh programme.

I think Hitchin Town Hall was the original venue though it’s a few years since I attended but I remember it being great fun. They are also clearly very well organised with a planned programme stretching out to their famous New Year’s Eve Ceilidh. Now based in St Mary’s Church Hall in Baldock with a Real Ale Bar, they offer very good value for money at just £13 for adults and the ceilidhs feature some of the best bands and callers, the latter being important for newcomers who need no previous experience. As you may have seen in the ‘Featured Events’ section on the front page of the main Unicorn Folk website, the next Ceilidh on Friday 8^th May features the Cock & Bull Band with the renowned Barry Goodman as caller and Letchworth Morris providing entertainment in the interval spot.

On the local scene, Royston Live on Thursday 30^th April will feature the legendary Bob Fox who has been a mainstay of the folk scene for as long as I can remember, though I have just discovered that he is actually a year younger than me and co-incidentally, also from the North-East and born in County Durham! However, I don’t hold either of those facts against him and am looking forward to hearing him play, as I have somehow contrived to avoid doing so until now. It’s usually my experience that I am pleasantly surprised when I don’t know much about the music of a particular performer who has been around for a long time though in this case Bob’s reputation precedes him. Don’t miss it! Check the front page on Unicorn Folk for ticket links.

There are lots of other good things going on before the next Royston Live including, for budding songwriters, a songwriting course by Stu Hanna of Megson on Thursday 16^th April at Cambridge Junction. At the same venue a couple of days later, on the 19^th, the impressive Katherine Priddy is appearing with Seamus Fogarty in support and on the following day, speaking of legendary (older) folkies, Martin Simpson is due to appear, followed just two days later by Honey and the Bear promoting their new album- A Wish & A Tide which I am about to review for Unicorn Folk but in the meantime you can read two previous album reviews HERE.

Whilst it may seem that Cambridge Junction have many of the best acts appearing there in April, the Unicorn Diary (under Listings on the top menu of the Unicorn Folk website) has just been updated to the end of June and contains links to around 139 events. So, you can now plan ahead and navigate all the other musical treats coming to the area soon, an area which has been expanded by the addition of a few additional venues both to the east and to the west of our region north of London.

Similarly, Unicorn Folk’s Festival Finder (also under Listings on the top menu) has been comprehensively updated and now contains something in the region of 130 folk or folk-related festivals for 2026. The good news is that only a handful of those have already happened so there are a lot left to look forward to in the coming year.

Another edition of Filby’s Folk is in the pipeline and I have a lot of new music to showcase including that new album from Honey and the Bear, plus those from Jim Moray, Lady Maisery and Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith, Hannah James & Toby Kuhn, and Emily Portman. Watch out for another podcast early this week!