A FOLK festival is returning to Plaitford for five days of music, dancing and real ale.
The New Forest Folk Festival will take place at the family-owned Powells Farm, in Plaitford, from Wednesday, July 5 to Sunday, July 10.
The event was started by brothers Keith and Nick Curtis, who put on a small one day folk festival back in 2012.
The family-run festival has expanded year after year, attracting visitors from all over the world.
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Keith said: “It’s a very friendly festival - we call it a small festival with a big line-up.
"It’s only a couple of thousand people in a field, plenty of room, and they come for about four or five days and make a holiday of it because we’ve got the woods and the forest just over the road, so it brings a lot of people into the area.
“They keep coming back because they enjoy being around the other people, they make friends and at the end of this festival, they get their tickets for next year - irrespective of whose playing.
“Folk music is not in your face, it’s kind of gentle with storytelling.”
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The event will kick off with a beer tent on Wednesday, July 5 before the mainstage opens and the festival truly begins the following day on Thursday.
The mainstage line-up includes: Lindisfarne, Ralph McTell, Joe Broughton and his Conservatoire Folk Ensemble and a very special ‘New Forest 10th Anniversary Band’ which features a number of artists from Little Johnny England, TRADarrr, Fotheringay, 15 string trio, Sandy Denny Project, IOTA plus a few special guests.
Also performing are Fairport Convention's Chris Leslie and Ric Sanders as well as Rick Wakeman CBE's son Adam Wakeman and Damian Wilson who between them have played the lead in Les Miserables and performed with Ozzy Osbourne.
New for this year will be Morris Dancing workshops in the ‘Woodland Fringe’ on a purpose laid wooden floor. Other workshops include singarounds, poetry and ‘song and ale’ sessions led by the festival’s resident MC and support singer for the Nettlebed Folk Club Bruce Gomersall.
Last year the festival introduced shower facilities and, in an effort, to be more environmentally friendly the whole site has been connected to the National Grid, removing the need for generators.
For more go to www.newforestfolkfestival.co.uk.
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