Beverley Folk Festival featured a varied programme of free and ticketed events across the midsummer weekend. YCG’s Ruth took a tour round the offerings through the Saturday daytime.
Very little seems more appropriate than to spend the summer solstice attending an expansive and exciting programme of traditional and modern folk. Beverley, with its mixture of historic architecture, quaint pubs, and community feel, offers the perfect backdrop for this, and as I spent my day trotting happily between venues I found myself thinking about our modern connection to our traditional music and customs across the British Isles, and how easy it is to miss out if you don’t know where to look.
Luckily for us Beverley Folk Festival (which has existed since 1983), makes it impossible to miss, from the buskers in the town centre and host of Morris sides bringing colour and levity to the streets, to the sounds of traditional reels and local and national talent drifting from open pub doors and beer gardens.
Being unfamiliar with Beverley, I was grateful to find that most locations were within a short walk of each other and programmed thoughtfully to allow for some travel time between sets. I both started and ended my day at Saint Nicholas Church, beginning with the folk cafe where we were all warmly welcomed by the reverend Mike (sporting a Beverley Folk Festival T-shirt as opposed to his usual dog collar!) and a team of volunteers who were serving tea, coffee and breakfast while we enjoyed music from the next generation of folk musicians.
Youthlincs are the youth arm of Folklincs, who describe themselves as “a society dedicated to preserving and encouraging folk arts and roots music in North Lincolnshire and the Humber area”. With the youth group spanning ages from 8 to 19 (although they have had participants as young as 4!) it was a real pleasure to see how this groups efforts are contributing to safeguarding the future of traditional music and encouraging enjoyment of it in new generations. Supported by three tutors who held back with a watchful eye and allowed the young musicians to take centre stage, the band consisted of 6 fiddle players, 1 flautist, a guitar player, a cello player, a percussionist on cajon, two accordionists and a whole lot of music, plus more besides, as not only were most individuals playing their own instruments, they were also stepping in with huge versatility as vocalists, soloists and unexpectedly (and enjoyably) as clog dancers.
While the focus of Folklincs is predominantly the music of the Humber area, they perform a repertoire from all over the British Isles, and I particularly enjoyed the affectionately named ‘Twiglet’ and ‘Merrily Danced The Quaker’s Wife’. All of the performers showed great professionalism and were cheerfully led and introduced by Carol Dawson, whose warm enthusiasm, encouragement and inclusion supported the young musicians through a fantastic set. I was sorry to have to leave before the second half to reach my next venue and envied those booked into the family folk workshop set for Sunday.
Leaving the cool of the church and stepping out into the stifling thirty degree heat I made my way through the town (wishing I had a Morris side bingo card and enjoying some dancing as I went!) past the charity buskathon, to sit awhile in the Monks Walk beer garden and enjoy Lee Atkinson and Friends, who were providing Bob Dylan-esque, storyteller vibes from a psychedelic corner, to an informal and appreciative audience.
I couldn’t linger long as I had highlighted Black Coffee and Cream in my programme, who were on stage at the East Riding Theatre acoustic café. Referred to variously across the internet as either a folk/acoustic duo or trio (or in some cases for this performance, a quartet after they roped in one of their supporters!) these accomplished musicians treated the audience to tight, fluid vocal harmonies and rhythmic and rolling accompaniment on guitar, percussion and double bass. I particularly enjoyed the Amy McDonald cover This Is The Life, which lends itself beautifully to their Americana/bluegrass style.
I then stuck around for ELM, a relatively new father/daughter duo who only recently started performing together at open mics in the local area. They provided an enjoyable set of covers that varied through traditional spirituals such as Mary Don’t You Weep, through James Taylor, Dusty Springfield and a surprisingly upbeat version of The Proclaimers’ Sunshine On Leith.
After this, eager to check out the other venues, I headed to Beverley Library. My interest had been piqued by The Hornsea Shanty Lasses, but I was early enough to catch the very end of Evie Barrand – a folk inspired singer-songwriter from the Hull area. The stripped back vocals and guitar accompaniment, reminiscent of Kate Walsh, were compelling enough to capture me within the space of half a song, and based on this alone I would certainly intentionally seek out her live performances in the future.
The Hornsea Shanty Lasses by contrast were anything but stripped back, with an enthusiastic rendition of shanties both well-known and less so, that encouraged participation and placed the focus firmly on community and high-spirited performance. The six-piece, all-female ensembles set challenged not only who we normally associate with singing sea shanties, but also what we might have been taught about how we’re supposed to behave in libraries(!), which the audience found extremely enjoyable and meant that everyone left with smiles on their faces.
From the library, I scurried back to Monks Bar to gratefully sink into a seat in the corner under the ancient beams, with dried hops and fairy lights setting the stage (literally) for my last two acts before the evening headliners back at St Nicholas.
McDowell are, by their own description, an acoustic alt-folk duo – who perform original work with a darkly humorous northern edge. On guitar and harmonica, the songs are short and gothic – and I particularly enjoyed Powerlines, which had a Kate Bush vibe, and the deliciously creepy Dolls’ House.
Rachel Makena followed with a combination of self-penned eco-conscious songs with mature, thoughtful, sometimes impassioned storytelling being combined by soaring vocals with an almost Ani di Franco edge, and the occasional cover (Blondie’s Sunday Girl, and The Cranberries’ Zombie) thrown in for good measure. She’s a regular on the circuit around Hull and has an ongoing project collecting donations for World Wildlife Fund.
After the appreciative crowds cleared, I started to make my way back towards St Nicholas Church – but was waylaid as I passed the door to The Sun (another ancient Beverley pub with a long history) by the sound of ‘The Mostly Tunes Session’ which, as it sounds. was a collection of folk musicians, some of whom had been performing earlier in the day, noodling out tunes, jigs and reels on a wide mix of instruments in the oldest folk tradition of people gathering to play together, and I was glad to stop for a short while, listen to them and reflect on everything I’d heard, all while still not realising that the highlight of the day was still to come.
Beverley Folk Festival offers so much both for attendees and performers, and we are so lucky to have this fantastic event right on the doorstep – especially when so much of the talent is home grown, and I was really struck by the quality and variety of the acts. I was already looking forward to returning next year, even before I made it to the end of the night. However, the evening performance from Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage, with support from Iona Wild, pushed that enjoyment into a whole different level. You can read about their performance in the full-length review, but for now you can take my word that is was midsummer magic not to be missed.
Beverley Folk Festival is a wonderful weekend of music and events, and so much of it is free – making fantastic live folk music accessible for so many. The 2026 festival dates are set for the 19th to the 21st of June next year, and if this year is anything to go by, I can’t wait to get booked in.
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