New folk music festival coming to Moorforge Viking Centre

Folk musicians from across Northern England and further afield will descend on Cumbria for the Moorforge Folk Festival which is taking place on July 7 and 8.

Alongside the music, the festival will also be a celebration of folklore and there will be craft workshops alongside sessions on story telling.

The festival is the brainchild of Yorkshireman, Johnny Campbell who is one of the north’s leading folk musicians.

“What we’re trying to do with the festival is bring people together from across the North of England and promote their music, their ethos and their traditions,” said Johnny.

“The festival focuses on all aspects including folk music, folk traditions and folk law.”

If you want something that's a bit of like a folk festival but that's a little bit out of the ordinary then this is for you.”

Johnny has received critical acclaim for his music, including his track ‘A Right to Roam’ which received the accolade of being one of the best folk songs of 2022.

“I do songs about radical English working-class history, we've got people like Jennifer Reed coming who is a Lancastrian musician who does 19th century Lancastrian weaving songs of Lak, but with a bit of a punk vibe and Cumbria’s very own Steve Wharton too.

“What I do is look through the lens of working-class life and put it into like a modern context as I think if you take the people out of folk music, then you're just not left with anything really.”

Alongside some of the north’s best folk artists, American group, Curtis Eller's American Circus are also coming to play at the festival having been regulars on the North American and European folk music circuits for over a decade and internationally recognised singer-songwriter from County Durham, Gary Miller.

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Tickets are on sale now for the Moorforge Folk Festival and can be bought online with organisers looking forward to welcoming people to the festival.