Bringing together the best of home-grown talent in music, dance and entertainment, the Plymouth Folk Festival is perhaps one of Devon's best kept secrets. Having dominated the city's event calendar for nearly a decade, this stripped down musical event explores the best of Plymouth's up and coming musical and artistic offerings while featuring performances by some of the city's most popular finds in a celebration of music and talent.
Featuring renowned and newcomer folk acts from across the great county of Devon, the festival aims to shed light on the city's ever expanding local music scene. The festival typically takes place in the month of June and has seen the likes of Miranda Sykes grace its stage although it is not just limited to musical showcases. The 2006 event for example included an indoor event that featured poets, storytellers and acoustic musicians dubbed A Stone Soup Evening of Storytelling, Music, and Poetry. Other highlights included performances in the city centre at Place De Brest with the attendance of Barbershop singers, Plymouth Morris and Plymouth Maids, Indie bands such as Sangreal and Irish folk punk band Black Friday. The Plymouth Musical Theatre Company also performed in a line up that displayed Plymouth's multicultural heritage with the attendance of Gujarati Folk Dancers and Thai dancers.
The event on New George Street saw the participation of clog dancers and other local favourites while the Armada Way instalment included the pulsating Samba group Crooked Tempo. Not limited to guitar grabbing crooners, the festival also features musicians with varying instrumental prowess which includes those with a proficiency in the fiddle, cello and of course piano.
Interactive in essence, the festival also includes audience participation activities such as the Tea Dances that were held in the '06 festival in Lower Guildhall. Open-mike events also encourage travellers and locals to engage in creative exercises of their own while the street performers that dot the landscape during the festival add charm and colour to the historic city rich in culture.
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