Kate Rusby, Afro Celt Sound System, Seth Lakeman, & more for Shrewsbury Folk Festival 2021

plans for a Covid-safe festival including a refreshed line up

By Scott Williams | Published: Wed 19th May 2021

Shrewsbury Folk Festival 2021 - Kate Rusby
Photo credit: Eve Mathews

Shrewsbury Folk Festival 2021

Friday 27th to Monday 30th August 2021
West Midlands Showground, (The Agricultural Showground) , Berwick Road, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY1 2PF, England MAP
currently £187 with camping, £160 without
Daily capacity: 6,500

Kate Rusby, Afro Celt Sound System, Seth Lakeman, The Christians, Dervish, Edwina Hayes, James Yorkston, Jim Molyneux, Joji Hirota & Taiko Drummers, Sona Jobarteh, The Carrivick Sisters, and The Longest Johns have been revealed for the 4-day Shrewsbury Folk Festival which takes place from Friday 27th until Monday 30th August 2021 at the West Mid Showground, Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

Organisers have elected for outside stages and more outdoor activities to ensure it can meet any possible Covid related regulations that might be in place by August Bank Holiday when the four-day festival takes place.

It has meant some revision to the line-up with the previously confirmed The John Martyn Project, Benji Kirkpatrick & The Excess, Calan, FOS Brothers, Kabantu, Lindisfarne, Oysterband, Pendevig, Sheelanagig, Sheema Mukherjee, Chris Sherburn, Denny Bartley & Emily Sanders, Show of Hands, Sisters of Elva Hill folk ballet, The Boxwood Chessmen, The Jellyman's Daughter, The Trials of Cato, The Young'uns, Truckstop Honeymoon, and Will Pound's A Day Will Come all still confirmed. Plus Shrewsbury will host the only festival appearance of The Lost Words: Spell Songs with Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, Seckou Keita, Kris Drever, Rachel Newton, Beth Porter, Jim Molyneux and illustrator Jackie Morris.

For the details as available please see the line-up page.

Planned appearances from international stars like Judy Collins and Galician piper Carlos Núñez have been rolled over to 2022 due to uncertainties surrounding international travel. More artists will be announced ahead of the festival that runs from August 27 to 30 at the West Mid Showground in Shrewsbury.

Festival Director Sandra Surtees said: "It has been very hard trying to plan the festival when we don't know exactly what the situation will be in August but we're confident that we have the best solution to bring the usual brand of festival magic back to Shrewsbury after our year off. Whilst the hope is that life will be back to normal after June 21, we have to book our extensive infrastructure and line up and plan our programme far in advance so being more of an open-air event was the safest way forward this year Although there may be some international travel allowed by August, we just don't know so, as much as we will miss our international performers, we've still got a diverse line up from British based musicians. There have been tough decisions to make and we know that there will be differences this year but we hope festivalgoers appreciate why we've had to revise our format for 2021. We have done everything we possibly can to make the festival an environment where people can enjoy the unique magic of Shrewsbury safely."

Tickets

buy tickets now >

Tickets are on sale, currently priced as follows:-
adult weekend no camping: £160
adult weekend with camping: £187
Family, youth, child, and day tickets are also available.

 

 




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