Artisan are an astonishing three part vocal harmony groupcomprising of Hilary Spence, Jacey Bedford and Brain Bedford hailing from Huddersfield. Their harmonies are superb; Brain’s song writing is a legend. Birthed in 1985 as a fun thing to do, Artisan kept getting invited to play and they went full time in1989. They toured relentlessly across the world and recorded 15 albums before retiring in 2005. They reunited briefly in 2010. We have persuaded them to come together again so you can enjoy the delight of hearing them sing. Expect songs to bring joy, sadness, tears, hope and humour.

Renowned folk dance band Whapweasel have been delighting and exhausting the folk dance enthusiasts for the last 20 years. This solid eight piece folk rock dance band have over that time notched up 6 albums of enthralling, turbo- charged dance music attracting rave reviews and packed dance floors and the accolade of Dance Band Of The Year at the Radio Two Folk Awards. Their most recent album ‘Fēstivālis’also includes a sprinkling of songs traditional and modern, wrapped in lustrous and witty instrumental settings.
The line up includes Saul Rose-melodeons, •Stuart Finden-saxophone •Fiona Littlewood-saxophone, •Heather Bell-keyboards, •Mike Coleman-cittern •Brian Bell-bass, •John Hirst-drums • Seth Tinsley - electric guitar.

The Brothers Gillespie (James and Sam) have just released their debut album ‘Songs from the Outlands’. They grew up in a village in Northumberland on the edge of what was once the Roman Empire - now part of a wide area of borderland between the River Tyne and the firth of Forth, rich in tradition and song. Blending expressive guitar and fiddle work with rich vocal harmony, they play old and new music drawn from the roots and rising from the cultural streams that flow into that land.

“Weaving an especially compelling magic that’s generated by its very nakedness and intrinsic wildness, the music of the Brothers feeds off the primal power of the landscape… The music on their debut disc is entirely captivating… this fantastic CD is surely destined to become one of my albums of 2016”  

David Kidman, Folk Radio UK

 “Well this is a rare treat… These are the kind of tunes that appear to have been constructed from bracken and wildflowers and are quietly superb. If you like proper folk music, then do seek them out.”               The Crack Magazine

Marc Block made a number of very well-received festival appearances last summer, including MOM. Currently performing solo, he is gaining a reputation as a fine songwriter and interpreter of traditional songs. Marc’s long-time friendship with the festival’s Patron Roy Bailey led to his becoming Roy’s driver, a role which has in turn seen him accompanying the doyen of English folk on some major stages and on his latest recordings, Stories.

“One of the most exciting singers I have heard in a long time” - Mike Harding

Robb Johnson is now widely recognised as one of the finest songwriters working in the UK today. His songs feature in the repertoires of a wide variety of musicians, from folk legend Roy Bailey to acclaimed cabaret diva Barb Jungr,  and he enjoys a similarly diverse spectrum of critical acclaim – “a modern-day Dostoyevsky” said the US’s Dirty Linen, Mojo made the double CD Gentle Men Folk Album Of The Month, while The Daily Telegraph made it their Folk Album Of 1998.

He has played pubs, clubs, pavements, pickets & benefits, arts centres & festivals, local radio, BBC Radio 3 & 4, Belgian Radio 1, Nicaraguan TV & Channel 4, the Albert Hole in Bristol and as part of Roy Bailey’s 1998 concert, the Albert Hall in London. In February 2006 Robb appeared at the Barbican as part of the prestigious BBC “Folk Britannia” series, where “for the encore, Robb Johnson leads all the artists (and the audience) in the World War I song ‘Hanging On The Old Barbed Wire’ in a concert that was screened on BBC4. Earlier this year Robb was the featured guest on Andy Kershaw’s Radio 3 programme. Robb also plays extensively in Belgium, Holland & Germany, & he has toured Britain supporting Chumbawamba, & the US with David Rovics.

His most recent album, A Reasonable History of Impossible Demands was released this year

At MOM he appears solo and with Roy Bailey in their highly acclaimed show ‘Gentle Men’.

“one of our best singer-songwriters ever” – Mike Harding.

Hexham Morris Men and Hexhamshire Lasses dance out. The Morris is England’s oldest surviving dance tradition. For at least five and a half centuries (perhaps much longer), it has been performed to welcome the spring, and to mark the turning of the year at midsummer and midwinter. One version of it was danced in Hexham until the 19th century, when - like many other rural customs - it fell into decline. A local revival began in November 1976.Thereafter, in their costume of grey top hats, blue baldrics and individually embroidered waistcoats the Hexham Morrismen became a familiar sight at Northumbrian events like the Morpeth Gathering and the Ovingham Goose Fair.They have earned an excellent reputation for their dancing and are now established as one of the best Cotswold Morris Dance teams in the North. They perform a full and varied programme of Cotswold dances from Fieldtown, Ducklington and Lichfield also border and North East rapper sword dances. New recruits are urgently needed.

" In the beginning when all was yet new and still wet, it is said that old Mr Fox helped dance the world into being, for red foxes loved to dance and the great mystery alone in the vast sky cloth above knew this to be true.  And as old Mr Fox danced his dance in the shallow places in the water, it began to kick up great clumps of mud which became land. And his dances had helped to plough this new land, and into this new land the four winds did sow the first barley and the first wheat.  And as old Mr Fox danced he lit the sun with his tale and painted the moon and all the stars up in the heavens preparing the world for the coming of the first people ; calling them forth from the darkness and into the light".

From : Way of the Morris a film  by Tim Plester

Taimane translates to diamond from Samoan and perfectly reflects the different facets of her nature. Whether delicately finger-picking through Bach or radically ripping through Led Zeppelin, Taimane has the ability to morph genres – from classical to rock to flamenco – and stretch her instrument far beyond the familiar melodies of Hawai`i, where she grew up. When Don Ho caught wind of the talented teen, he invited her to join him as part of his venerable variety show at the Waikiki Beachcomber, further fuelling Taimane’s desire to perform for and connect with audiences. In addition to performing her own distinctive versions of well-known pieces, Taimane weaves in original compositions that are as far ranging as her musical tastes. With the fierceness of a rocker, and the grace of a dancer, Taimane and her music are wowing ever-larger audiences. She lights up rooms wherever she goes, sparkling like the diamond that she is.

Carlisle Clog and Sword Dancers  Traditional Clog, English Longsword and Step Dancing side, based in Carlisle. They have had a long and chequered past, with various incarnations and monikers. The side is predominantly clog and step, with some long sword dances being perfected. They have, in the past, performed Rapper, Border, Cotswold and North West, and has danced in many places, both in Britain and overseas. The Cloggies are predominantly female, but do not exclude males from taking part.