PREVIEW: The Great British Folk Festival 2017

PREVIEW: The Great British Folk Festival 2017

When: 1st-4th December 2017
Where: Butlin’s Skegness, Lincolnshire

In just a little over a month’s time the Great British Folk Festival will once more be upon us. Returning for the seventh consecutive year to its traditional home at Skegness Holiday Park, this Butlin’s Live Music Weekend again promises an outstanding line-up featuring some of the finest folk artists from these shores.

This year’s headliners include Dublin’s Hothouse Flowers who will be guaranteed to kick up a most veritable storm of more traditional Irish music laced with soul, gospel and good old fashioned rock’n’roll. They will be joined at the top of the bill by the hugely influential folk band and perennial festival favourites Fairport Convention, as well as the former Fairground Attraction singer and one of Scotland’s most distinctive voices, Eddie Reader.

An incredibly strong supporting cast who will also be playing on the site’s two main stages over the first weekend in December will count amongst its number such varied talents as Matthew’s Southern Comfort (led by Fairport Convention alumnus Ian Matthews and who had topped the UK chart back in 1970 with their cover version of Joni Mitchell’s song ‘Woodstock’); another traditional Irish act in the form of County Sligo’s Dervish; St Agnes Fountain, who are about to embark on their 15th consecutive sell-out Christmas tour; a band who are so much more than just a mere Bob Dylan tribute act, The Dylan Project; and Magna Carta, the progressive folkies who are still going strong almost 50 years after their inception.

But the Great British Folk Festival is not just about well established artists. The festival’s Introducing Stage will this year welcome a wealth of some perhaps lesser known talent to Skegness, including the Nottingham singer-songwriter Brad Dear, the London-based innovative folk trio Solasta, English folk-rock sextet Galley Beggar, and Honey and the Bear, an exciting folk and roots duo from Suffolk.

In addition to having three nights’ accommodation in this beautiful seaside location and entry to all of the music venues on this traditional holiday camp site (where Butlin’s all started back in 1936), guests will also be able to enjoy access to all of the site’s bars, dining facilities, 20m pool, fitness suite, sauna, steam room, cinema, ten pin bowling and various amusements.

For full information on The Great British Folk Festival 2017 and to get a quote for the cost of the weekend please go to the Butlin’s Live Music Weekends website HERE

And to give you a further flavour of what to expect at the Great British Folk Festival, HERE are some photos from last year’s event.

God is in the TV is an online music and culture fanzine founded in Cardiff by the editor Bill Cummings in 2003. GIITTV Bill has developed the site with the aid of a team of sub-editors and writers from across Britain, covering a wide range of music from unsigned and independent artists to major releases.