Sisters Unlimited are Sandra Kerr, Janet Russell, Rosie Davis and Peta Webb. They got together in1987 at a concert for International Women’s Day to sing songs celebrating women’s lives, to explore issues that affect our lives, and to sing songs of political relevance to all of us. Together they have performed with the ‘wit and wisdom of woman kind’ for over 30 years. They are delighted to be asked to re-form as part of Whitby Festival’s 60 year celebrations. Sandra, Janet, Rosie and Peta have been festival guests many times over the years and will also feature as solo performers.

Enda Kenny is an Irish-born songwriter who has made his home in Australia. Through ten independent albums, his thoughtful, descriptive stories have struck a chord with festival audiences worldwide. A string of early songwriting awards have led to a full time career as one of the best entertainers in the world of folk and acoustic music. His songs are always memorable, often hard-hitting and spiced with plenty of humour.

Home Service is back on the road with Bob Fox at the helm alongside Graeme Taylor’s fiery lead guitar and their trademark stirring brass section. Their music blends tradition with pulsating folk-rock and trenchant brass to create their own unmistakable sound. Home Service was originally formed in 1981 from the creative nucleus of the Albion Band line-up that had produced the classic Rise Up Like the Sun album. They went on to produce three albums in the mid-eighties, including the ground-breaking Alright Jack and The Mysteries, featuring their music for the celebrated National Theatre trilogy. One of the great voices of British folk song, Bob Fox joined Home Service in 2023 following the departure of John Tams, making his debut at Broadstairs Folk Week the same year. In 2024, the band returned to touring and released a new live album, A Live Transmission, their first to feature Bob Fox.

The good Doctor Martin Carthy and his twice Mercury nominated daughter Eliza Carthy, join forces to perform an eclectic range of songs and tunes from their vast family repertoire, drawing from the traditional canon as well as selections from a more contemporary songbook. Since their Topic Records album release, The Elephant, in 2014, this duo format has gone from strength to strength, allowing each artist to showcase their unique individual musical talents, as well as highlighting their symbiotic bond, with instinctive and sensitive arrangements and accompaniment for each other.

Morris Oxford are found singing, playing and dancing around the Warwickshire folk scene and often support Nigel and Annabel with some driving tunes for Kentucky Running Set

Contrary Faeries arise from Sheffield to delight, entrance, and enthral! Sol Loreto-Miller on piano and Joshua Rowe on fiddle will whisk you away to a world where you can dance forever and forget your troubles, your home, and the life you lived before.

The first meeting of Dawnswyr Talog dance team was held in September 1979, thanks to three visionary people: Eirlys and Mansel Phillips and Eirwen Davies. Initially, the calendar consisted of local dance ceilidhs (known as a twmpath dawns in Welsh) and occasional exhibitions but, as the team developed, it built its national and international reputation. Today, it is fair to say that Dawnswyr Talog dancers are one of Wales’s most prominent traditional dance groups, and since 1979 they have certainly put the small West Wales village of Talog, close to Carmarthen, on the map!

Culverake are a traditional singing trio promising gusto and harmonies a plenty. Made up of Seb Stone, Matt Quinn and Lizzy Hardingham, they breathe new life into timeless melodies.

Jim Murray, Alex Szyszkowski, Lis Stewart and Chris Dyer play as The Too Good To Hurry Band. They play a mixture of English tunes, Tyneside songs and some of Jim’s ‘homebrews’. Jim Murray started on the Tyneside folk scene in the 60s as a solo singer and then with brother Phil and Mick and Kevin Doonan until he moved to London where he continued to perform and run folk clubs.. Alex Szyszkowski plays melodeon, harmonica and mandola and is rooted in the English country dance tradition. He has been a member of Islington Folk Club’s Angel Band.for many years. Lis Stewart plays duet concertina and fiddle and is a regular performer at UK folk clubs and festivals. Chris Dyer plays English and Nordic fiddle on the UK festival and dance club scene. Alex, Lis and Chris are all seasoned tune session leaders.

Graham has over 60 years of experience of performing, from the smallest of folk clubs to large concert venues. As well as solo performances and many years performing with Cockersdale, he has run song and singing workshops, both privately and for organisations such as Folkworks. He has a great knowledge of his songs and brings them to life with humour and understanding. He has attended every Whitby since its inception and sung at every one apart from the first. This year he will give his final presentation of his Miner’s Union show and an Alex Glasgow Song Cycle with Gordon Tyrrall.

Seb Stone is a traditional singer, whistle player and uilleann piper from the Peak District. In 2022 he won Bromyard Folk Festival’s ‘Future of Folk’ award, and had his first festival season in 2023. He draws on a varied repertoire of traditional English and Irish songs, focussing on the stories they have to tell, and their relevance to our modern world, singing them with “understanding, sensitivity & strength”. Seb is a keen session player, and when he’s not poring over broadsides or field recordings, he can be found playing sessions in Sheffield’s thriving folk scene.

Janice Burns & Jon Doran are an award-winning Anglo-Scottish duo who came together after discovering a shared love of traditional music. Their compelling storytelling comes alive through tight vocal harmonies and sensitive interplay between mandolin, bouzouki and guitar. With their relaxed and personable approach to performance, Janice & Jon are renowned for the warmth of their connection with audiences. From opening Stage 2 at Cambridge Folk Festival, to playing at the likes of Edinburgh Tradfest, Cecil Sharp House and Sage Gateshead, the duo are highly sought after across the UK and beyond. Following the success of their self-titled EP in 2020, Janice & Jon released their debut album, No More the Green Hills, in Autumn 2022. The album had overwhelmingly positive feedback, finding its place in the Official UK Folk Albums Chart, as well as gaining airplay on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio Scotland.

David has vast experience of running instrumental and vocal workshops for a wide range of instruments and experience-levels, and has led community music projects in Hungary, India, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Sweden, Japan, the USA and France as well as many parts of the UK.