Swanage Folk Festival

Friday

Swanage Folk Festival has been bringing people to this quaint Dorset town since 1992. I visited a couple of times around the mid 2000’s when I used to live up the coast, so was long overdue another visit. Sandpit Field, just off the seafront, acts as the main hub of the festival. It’s filled with crafts and tasty food, and the curry was particularly good. The main stage marquee was where things were kicking off on Friday night.

Opening proceedings were husband and wife duo Winter Wilson, with their blend of traditional songs and storytelling. The amusing familial stories of the long-suffering wife between songs were almost as entertaining as the tunes themselves. Yet with the evident closeness of the couple also coming across musically, where they worked seamlessly. Working through a range of instruments from squeeze box to guitar and banjo. Apparently, a definition of a gentleman includes being able to play a banjo yet choosing not to.

The Haar were next up, with their lead singer Molly, winning the impromptu “who travelled the furthest to be here,” hailing from Dublin. Her voice is something to behold, stopping you in your tracks with the power. A lot of the songs having a haunting, yet mesmerising quality to them. In fact, the band first got together from a session where she sang-before they did a recording at the ‘Father Ted’ shipwreck of the Plassey. From that moment, they knew they had to do something magical, musically, together.

Reworking traditional Irish tunes, The Haar, are a very interesting live band. In between songs there is quite a bit of banter, before they get switched on for the track itself, Molly steals the show with dramatic movement accompanying that voice. The reworkings are unique too. ‘Wild Rover’ for example, a tune everyone knows and almost quite whimsically performed normally, turned into a dark number that gets inside your very soul.

Friday night drew to a close with Birmingham ensemble, The Bonfire Radicals, with a set mostly full of upbeat tunes. Their USP is the uncommon, well to me at least, being fronted by the recorder. Yet played in a trailblazing way, this is no school assembly but a set of tunes that are going to want to get you off your seat.
Then it was off to find our little flat by the sea. that was home for the weekend, before coming back and see what Saturday had in store.

Saturday

As entertaining as the main stage acts are, the festival is more than just the live bands that offers, with activities taking place across the whole town. With far more than just concerts too, including over 60 Morris sides taking part. In fact, you can’t walk along the sea front without coming across around six or seven different locations with Morris sides performing at any one time. All in rotation, so you can move and find out more, or wait and see who comes next to your chosen spot.

Though if you did want to see all the Morris groups, there is a way, and it forms possibly the visual highlight of the whole weekend. Each group parades along the seafront, with their musicians, and most make frequent stops for a quick dance too. There were so many, that it must have taken about 45 minutes for them all to traverse the 1 mile or so stetch of seafront. Also, the ongoing procession proves longer than the seafront. So, after a while they start doubling back for the rest to process through an arch, created by those already having reached the end.

It's fascinating to see such a range too, from people with various painted faces, steampunk, cloggers, international groups, it really is a colourful spectacle. The whole festival extends into the town itself too, with many of the local pubs and bars hosting events. After a brief pit stop to watch the Red Roses in the Women’s Rugby World Cup, we headed along to watch a session.

This one took place in The White Swan in the area usually reserved for the pool table; it was packed to the rafters with people spilling onto the pavement outside to listen. Anyone could take part, and many did, with a vast array of different instruments included. In fact, it was so busy, unfortunately a few musicians came and left again as there were no more seats to be had.

We ended Saturday continuing to check out the fringe events in the town centre which was headlined by the Sea of Sound Expedition. Billed as a mix of sea shanty tunes by Kelp and folk rock by The Savage Underdogs, both local acts and it sounded quite intriguing. After an hour or so it had mostly been indie/ rock tunes by the band and only three or so shanties. I felt it could have been separate events really. So, we called time on day 2, to be fit again for the final day on Sunday.

Sunday

After lunch we headed to the Mowlem Bar to finally get our sea shanty fix. This time courtesy of The Dorset Mutineers, well 4 of the normal 6 of them anyway. The venue is an amazing space that felt akin to being on a cruise ship. A panoramic window looked out over the English Channel, with the Isle of Wight off in the distance. It also afforded a wonderful view of the Morris sides along the sea front, who were back in action for the final day of the event.

The Dorset Mutineers played a whole host of traditional and self-penned shanty tunes, with rum quite literally in hand. Joining in was encouraged too, with the invitation taken up by most of the crowd. Shanties had a bit of a popularity boost in those odd times when we all got stuck at home, with ‘Wellerman’ becoming the central tune around that time. It had a reprise during this session, and it seemed everyone still knew all the words.

After yesterday’s parade the Morris dancers were back on the seafront. This time for something a little different. Alongside their normal displays, a number of groups performed in the sea to bring the Morris dance part of the festival to a conclusion. I won’t vouch for whether it was warm, but some didn’t stay long. It was quite a magnificent event to behold.

Following that The Rigmarollers greeted us on the main stage. Part blues, part oompah band with their sousaphone, they were definitely all fun, and got the party started. You never quite knew what the next tune was going to be, which drew you into the performance. Yet it seemed to fly by. This was before we took one last trip into the town centre, this time for a singing session.

Then it was back up to the main stage to close the festival with the final night’s concert. Opening tonight was Folklaw, showcasing their new album ‘Catch the Sun’. A vibrant folk-rock band that were bursting full of energy; with self-penned tunes, even ones dating back to the civil war such as ‘Fighting for Old Charlie’. It was a musical feast with all members taking a turn at fronting a song or two, and even the rare sight of a drummer up close.

Next up were Narthen, who had also headlined the previous night’s ceilidh. As such they had been invited back for a concert slot on the main stage. Probably the most traditional of tonight’s acts, a very talented group of musicians. It transpired they have been commissioned to write tunes for many events. Turns out most the events then closed-but nothing to do with the tunes themselves we assure you. Let’s hope they didn’t write one for Swanage Folk Festival, as we’re enjoying it too much.

Closing act of the Sunday night concert and sadly the whole festival for 2025 was Kate Griffin & Matchume Zango. This festival certainly knows how to go out with a bang. With Kate on banjo and Matchume on an array of different instruments. With bongos and timbila being the main ones used. The latter is a speciality of Mozambique; they perfectly fused the two cultures making an infectious sound that made you want to dance. It took a bit of time, but he did get people up and dancing too.

This final act of the weekend shows what a vast array of music can count as ‘folk’ too. I still get comments about folk just being an old man and a guitar. There is still very much a place for the traditional songwriters. Yet this also shows that the world (literally in this case) is the oyster of the festival world; and it is wonderful to be exposed to new and exciting music I may not have found on my own. The crowd ended the night on their feet from the African rhythms, which were getting people up and dancing. For those more reserved or unable, they were on their feet at the end for the standing ovation they received.

What a festival that was, smaller than Sidmouth or Warwick, yet perfectly formed. The town was buzzing but never felt uncomfortably busy. Many thanks to all the organisers for putting it on, especially Jon Baker the festival chairman. He was to be found wearing all orange, almost a walking traffic cone, throughout the festival. It rightly fell to him to have the last word and invite all back next year; I certainly plan on doing exactly that.