Unicorn Folk News

August is a quiet month in some respects as many folk clubs close for a month or two with some notable local exceptions including the Acoustic Club at Bishop’s Stortford, the Four Rivers Folk Club at Hertford and Redbourn Folk Club. Of course there have been numerous folk festivals to attend during the summer with plenty more to come throughout September and even into October as already listed in the Unicorn Folk Festival Finder. The other mainListings can also be found on the top menu on the Unicorn Folk website and include the Unicorn Diary and the Gigs & Tours listing both of which have been updated prior to this blog.

Coming up on the local club scene, if you are quick, tonight (Tuesday 1^st September) St Neots Folk Club will be entertained by Vicki Swann & Jonny Dyer and tomorrow night Redbourn Folk Club host a solo gig by Jon Doran prior to a September tour with his usual singing partner Janice Burns. Later in the month on Tuesday 15^th St Neots host Cohen Braithwaite Kilcoyne whilst the legendary John Tams makes one of his rare appearances at Hitchin Folk Club on Sunday 13^th followed exactly two weeks later by another legend in Steve Knightley.

East Anglian Traditional Music Trust hold their annual Traditional Music Day on Saturday September 19^th in Stowmarket and this year it features Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith, Nick Hart and ‘Flowers and Frolics’ the last of whom I remember fondly from my student days at Bath, which I mainly spent Morris dancing!

Megson are playing St Andrews Church in Hertford on Saturday 26^th and the following day are hosting their Family Folk Show as part of Royston Arts Festival. Royston Live are also part of the festival once again and this year on Thursday 24^th will see Thursday’s Band make a welcome reappearance at the Old Bull Inn. Ticketing details for both these events can be found in Featured Events on the front page of the main Unicorn Folk website along with those for another wonderful concert at Royston Museum on Friday 2^nd October when there is a retelling of ‘Fen Song’ and a rare appearance by the wonderfully talented 3Folk.

I guess that I might as well give Royston Arts Festival a plug at this point for anyone who is interested in the arts and crafts, or music and drama, with exhibitions, workshops and talks aplenty and a final weekend with a fun family day and book fair, both with FREE entry. It runs throughout September with the main weekend being the final one and you will find more details on the festival website.

Also, a quick plug here for the new album by Spell Songs a folk supergroup coming together for the third in a series of albums based on The Book Of Birds a collaboration between conservationist Robert MacFarlane and artist Jackie Morris. The members of Spell Songs are Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, Kris Drever, Seckou Keita, Rachel Newton, Beth Porter and Jim Molyneux. The new album is called ‘In Thin Air‘ and is released on Friday 4th September, the same night as a concert date at Cambridge Corn Exchange when Jackie Morris and Robert MacFarlane will give a pre-show talk. Tickets HERE.

If you missed the broadcast of Filby’s Folk shows on Sunday 2^nd August and Sunday 9^th August on the new Meridian1 radio station that covers South Cambs, North Herts and beyond, you can now listen to podcasts of the shows (119 & 120) HERE on Unicorn Folk. It is hoped that the Meridian1 radiostation will reappear after a full review of the 2-week trial and then continue to broadcast on a more permanent basis.

Finally, several of my favourite artists are out on tour or playing gigs in September so check out the Gigs and Tours Listing on the main Unicorn Folk website as well as the Unicorn Diary. (The Listings are mainly pdf files so the link address, or url, changes with each update which is why I don’t provide a direct link.) Fairport Convention’s Autumn Acoustic Tour starts further ahead on 6^th October but you may be well advised to start checking out ticket availability now.

My aim of writing a blog once a fortnight seems to have crumbled into the dust that is now becoming a more familiar sight in this region as temperatures soar and greenery is replaced by ‘brownery’ if that is indeed a word – perhaps one for the future!

I’m grappling with being Chair of Royston Arts Festival once again and with printing deadlines looming some things, blogs in particular, have had to take a back seat. However, I did want to quickly rush out a blog to highlight the Baldock and Letchworth Folk and Roots Festival which is taking place this very weekend starting in earnest today, with a couple of sessions last night as well, truth be told!

There is a long line-up of artists including many folk club favourites and best of all it is FREE but donations are requested for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) which is no doubt connected with the fact that the event will be held at Letchworth Rugby Club. Several well-known rugby players, and no doubt some less well-known have contracted MND in recent years so this is a very good cause to donate to. Links to their website are in Featured Events on the front page of the main Unicorn Folk website where you can also find a host of other events going on around the region, and some of them with FREE entry.

The Baldock and Letchworth Folk and Roots Festival builds on a similar event last year which was held in response to the demise of the Cambridge Folk Festival and this year is, I think, intended to provide an alternative to what some see as a watered down event. There are some good things going on at Cambridge Folk Festival next weekend the links to which which you can find in the Festival Finder in the Listings on the front page of Unicorn Folk though it does seem to be sold out!

Just a note here for any organisers of festivals, Unicorn Folk is especially keen to support FREE folk festivals and especially those where donations go to such good causes as MNDA, so do please send in details of your event with an accompanying poster which I can feature on Unicorn Folk with links to the festival site.

As this is supposed to be just a quick blog I will only mention that the latest version of Filby’s Folk (Show 119) is lined up for broadcast on Sunday 2^nd August between 5 and 7pm on the new Meridian1 radio station that covers South Cambs and North Herts and beyond. Filby’s Folk (Show 120) is lined up for the following Sunday 9^th August at a similar time. Meridian1 itself is set to broadcast for 2 weeks starting 1^st August. There will then be a review and it is hoped that the station will continue to broadcast on a more permanent basis after a short break.

Royston Live Folk Club has their final event, a singer’s night on Thursday 30^th July. If you want to book a slot as a performer please email roystonfolkclub@outlook.com, otherwise it is FREE entry with donations collected to go towards future bookings.

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!