Wardle Folk Festival

Photo: Richard Jackson

Wardle Folk Festival

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Wardle Folk Festival was a “fantastic weekend” say organisers and those in attendance.

The festival was held across Wardle and Littleborough and played host to a variety of folk music, dance and merriment from Friday to Sunday.

The three day festival started with a Ceilidh at Littleborough Conservative Club. The event was led by fiddle driven group Ceilidh & Co with celebrated musicians Tom Kitching, Jim Molyneux and Will Renwick leading a fun filled dance with “awesome” music.

On Saturday, the festival moved to Wardle Academy where there were a dozen or so music and dance workshops on offer. Those in attendance could learn anything from harmony singing with the She Shanties to clog dancing with Oakenhoof Cloggers to performance with Jimmy Doherty and could even try their hand at writing Lancashire folk songs.

From late afternoon to early evening on Saturday there were two stages with a range of “brilliant and inspiring” performances.

Calderdale Folk Group kicked off the live performances with a set from some talented young folksters. On the bigger stage was a performance from Jimmy Doherty, who proved his workshop teachings were well grounded by kicking off the main event with a “really cool performance”.

Wardle Academy Folk Group took to the stage with a performance that included harmony singing and some 'feel good music' followed by Rosenblume, a group from Liverpool, described as “fantastically talented”.

That’s All Folk, a Rochdale Music Service youthful folk group, returned to the festival after a great year at the inaugural event. Their performance showed the experience they have gained over the years, with the group finishing their performance with a clog off, which was incredibly popular with the crowd.

The Oakenhoof Cloggers and The Black Nan Band then stepped onto the stage next. The groups started a folk session in the mezzanine area – something that proved extremely popular, followed by wall-to-wall tunes and songs bouncing between the Oakenhoof Cloggers and The She Shanties.

Jolly Jock, who is simply described as an 'entertainer', “gripped everyone in genuine laughter”.

Oakenhoof and The Black Nan Band returned to perform Rapper Sword Dancing, followed by some great clog dancing.

Described as Rochdale’s 'cutest' folk group, Little Folk took to the stage, followed by The She Shanty Singing Ladies.

Wardle Academy Folk Group returned to the main stage and started with a song called ‘It’s OK to be Different,’ that a couple of the group wrote with Speldosa, who performed last year.

After a performance that brought the audience to tears, the group continued with their set, which culminated in a mass performance with Little Folk, That’s All Folk and Oakenhoof joining them on stage for a finale of dance and music.

Saturday evening was headlined by Harp and A Monkey. Described as 'fantastic' the group incorporated music textures, timbre and connected singing, which resulted in some tears from the audience.

The final day of the festival, Sunday, saw The Wheatsheaf in Littleborough host a sing-around and folk session all afternoon. Kicked off by the She Shanties the session also included performances from Oakenhoof and The Black Nan Band as well as Little Folk and some local folk singers.

To end the event, Rochdale’s energetic Irish party band, The Scattering, played a raucous gig to a very appreciative audience.

Organiser Paul Woodhead said: “All-in-all it was a fantastic weekend, full of all the joys of life. All being well, we're hoping to expand the festival into Rochdale next year too.”