The House That Jack Built will be holding a fundraising evening on Friday, January 30, to raise funds towards the cost of running Todmorden’s first folk festival in April.
Planning for Tod Folk Fest is well under way, with the headline acts for the main concert on Saturday, April 18, already announced.
The brainchild of Ester Ferry-Kennington, who has been involved with the organisation of Whitby folk festival for many years and who is a member of the well known women’s shanty crew “She Shanties”, Tod Folk Fest aims to bring in folk musicians and dancers from throughout the UK.
The fundraiser is aiming to raise the working capital necessary to ensure that the main festival is able to run smoothly and hopefully become the basis of a annual festival for the town.
The acts appearing at Jack’s House, Burnley Road, on the 30th will include Birds and Ships, Pickled, Oakenhoof Cloggers, The Black Nan band and many more. Entry is free but donations will be most welcome. Anyone who wishes to be a part of the evening can contact the festival organisers through either the festival Facebook page at Todmorden Folk Festival or via the festival website at www.todfolkfest.co.uk.
The main festival will run from Friday, April 17, to Sunday, April 19, at a variety of venues throughout the town, including a ceilidh at The Fielden Centre on the Friday evening, workshops and sessions at Central Methodist Church on the Saturday, with the headline concert being held at the Unitarian Church on the Saturday evening. The town will hopefully be awash with dancers and musicians throughout the weekend performing both outside and in the local pubs including The House That Jack Built and Masons Arms, and The Bare Arts Beer Shop will be hosting a musicians session on the Saturday afternoon. More venues are due to be announced.
The headline concert on the Saturday evening will feature Bella Gaffney, a fantastic singer/songwriter and Red Hippo, who’s mix of music and fun just has to be seen to be believed. Headline act of the Saturday concert will be the hugely popular The Young’uns who are massively popular on the folk scene and have performed at festivals throughout the world
Tickets for the main festival can be purchased via the website. Individual tickets are available for each concert or workshop, but a weekend ticket is also available which gets the holder into any paid workshop or concert, including the Saturday Headline concert, for £25 (adult) and £10 for under 16s (if accompanied by a full weekend ticket holder).