Spare Parts are based in Lewes, East Sussex. We write and play arrangements of British dance music on concertinas and fiddle. Valmai writes songs on Sussex subjects. They play for Magic Lantern shows, collaborations with Lewes History Group and Lewes Little Theatre, the ‘Shepherds Arise!’ collection of old Sussex carols and tunes, and the mysterious ancient sport of dwyle flunking. They help to run Lewes Saturday Folk Club, which meets every Saturday night and also puts on nationally-known workshops for folk musicians and singers (over 300 workshops to date). They also run monthly practice sessions for people wanting to learn tunes popular in local English tunes sessions, and helped compile the Lewes Favourites tune books which resulted from the practice evenings.

This is Jim’s 50th year running Shanty Sessions at Whitby Folk Week. In that time the sessions have moved all around the town finally settling at their home in The Endeavour over 20 years ago. Graeme joined Jim at that time and the duo have been running the daily sessions ever since. With the help of many supporters they have raised over £50,000 for Whitby Lifeboat with daily raffles, auctions etc and a lot of silliness. The theme changes every day but shanties and sea songs are compulsory. Secret special guests drop in so come and join Jim & Graeme with the Maritime Fun. Come early for a seat!

Camden Clog have been dancing and teaching the East Lancashire clog style of Pat Tracey for over thirty years. “Camden Clog are great ambassadors for clog and folk dance”, said the Chief Executive of English Folk Dance & Song Society recently. They have been on stage, screen and radio, and now, Whitby!

Doug Eunson (Melodeon / Hurdy Gurdy) and Sarah Matthews (Fiddle) perform for energetic ceilidh, concerts and Euro Bal dances. “They are a duo that performs like a much larger group with dynamic vocals, great harmonies, warm stage presence and first rate instrumentals.” For ceilidh, they pick great English traditional and self-penned melodies, enriched with harmony, and strong driving groove! They are experienced dancers themselves, and play for dancing regularly. In their concert sets, Doug (Voice, Melodeon) and Sarah (Voice, Five-String Fiddle) use their natural, expressive musicality to craft their arrangements with style and intuitive elegance. As well as drawing on some of the finest English folk song repertoire to sing in breathtaking harmony, they play English and European dance music in outstanding instrumentals and beautifully flowing tune sets.

Rosie Stewart, from Belcoo, County Fermanagh, is among the most distinguished of Irish traditional singers with a voice that has been described as “Somewhere between the pipes, the flute and broken glass”, Chosen as “Traditional Singer of the Year” in 2004 by the Irish Language Television Station, TG4, her distinctive voice and style, the dramatic intensity of her “big” song performances and the wicked pleasure she takes in comic ones, make her one of the most sought after singers in Ireland. She has performed throughout Ireland, on radio and television, and in Britain and North America. She has been singing for as long as she can remember and attributes her love of songs to her late father, the singer Packie McKeaney, a major influence and a great encouragement in her career. Stewart is noted for her artistry, her forceful, direct manner and purity of voice and style.

Rosie teaches traditional singing at the Joe Mooney Summer School in Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim, is a regular visitor to English Folk Festivals and clubs and in June 2016, with four of her six sisters she launched a CD ‘ From the hearth of Glen’. In January 2015, with her sister Peggy, she established the Rainbow Singing Circle in Glenfarne, Co Leitrim. She is a regular participant in the various singing events that occur in various venues throughout Ulster and Connacht.

Established in 1968, the Marske Fishermen’s Choir gives around 30 concerts each year. Our repertoire includes sea songs, popular songs and a few maritime hymns, all arranged by one of our founder members, the present Musical Director and accompanist, Bill Porritt.

The Choir has appeared all over Britain, and even abroad, at many musical occasions such as festivals, milestone anniversaries, TV and Radio programmes, as well as smaller local events.

Our concerts in support of social, community and fundraising events have provided entertainment for a wide variety of charities and organisations, and helped raise thousands of pounds, especially for the RNLI, by whom we were honoured with the 2006 National Group Supporters’ Award, followed in 2008 with the conferment of the Freedom of the Borough of Redcar & Cleveland.

After more than 50 years, the Choir continues to thrive and help raise money for local charitable organisations.

This past year, Jim and Lynette have been active with FolkLincs at Barton Ropewalk, where Lynette and Wendy Bolton lead fortnightly clog workshops with Jim playing fiddle. Jim’s fiddle puppet, Gerald, made the big time with a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it TV appearance when chef Andi Oliver’s ‘Fabulous Feasts’ visited Bridlington. Jim and Lynette entertained at Bridlington’s Sailing Coble Festival with local fisherman’s songs, tunes and step dancing. Jim and Corona Smith played and sang the Millington carols, along with seasonal songs from Jim’s stock of East Yorkshire farmworkers’ and travellers’ pieces, at the Beamish Christmas Fairs. Lynette learnt two new northeast clog steps when 100-year-old Doris Hawkes donned her clogs and rose from her wheelchair to contribute at Lynette’s Morpeth Gathering clog event. Together, Jim and Lynette played and sang with makeshift harbour band, The Sawmill Sidewinders, for Flamborough Sword Dancers on Boxing Day.

Berkshire Bedlam have been entertaining audiences for many years with their own unique approach to Cotswold Morris, featuring high energy dances performed not only with enthusiasm, gusto, precision, and great musical accompaniment, but also with a strong awareness of what will interest and appeal to those watching. Their repertoire includes a wide array of dances, most of them original, including some bewildering flying stick routines, and their legendary Coconut dance, performed, they say, with coconut shells gathered from the foothills of the Cotswolds. Can that be true? – come and see them to find out!

Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne is a folk musician and singer. Cohen has been a musician since the age of 6 and took to squeezeboxes in his teens and has since developed into a fine player of both the melodeon and anglo concertina. Cohen is also a well-regarded singer and in 2014 won Bromyard Folk Festival’s Future of Young Folk Award for singing.

With exceptional musicianship and boundless energy, Granny’s Attic are going from strength to strength. Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne (melodeon, anglo concertina, vocals), George Sansome (guitar, vocals) and Lewis Wood (violin, vocals) have honed their skills touring the UK and Europe since 2009. The trio have been heralded for their lively performances and skilled delivery of traditional material, playing with verve, energy and their own inimitable style. Though grounded in tradition, they are keen to push new boundaries by exploring fresh approaches and writing their own compositions. In October 2021, they released their latest album, The Brickfields, an instrumental collection that sees them reach new heights both as performers and composers. Described by Folk Radio as “one of the most exciting and accomplished English folk acts on the scene right now”, this outstanding trio can hold audiences in the palm of their hand.

Ian is an experienced ceilidh caller from Hampshire; equally at home calling for family parties and local dances, or on the biggest festival stages, catering for novice and experienced dancers, alike.  A fanatical ceilidh dancer; he is more likely, than not, to be found on the dance floor when not calling.  He enjoys working with a wide range of bands, both locally, and throughout the country at ceilidh series events and festivals.  Renowned for his red boots and excessive bounce; he brings all that enthusiasm and experience to his selection of dances and clear calling

Taffy Thomas has been a part of the folk scene for over 50 years. Notably, he has dreamed up and directed two companies, Magic Lantern and The Fabulous Salami Brothers. His work at Festivals and in Education have led to him receiving an MBE and the EFDSS gold badge. He introduced traditional storytelling to the Whitby programme, something he continues to foster with his nightly popular Taffy’s Tunes & Tales sessions. Through these and other performances at Whitby he continues to inspire a new generation of folk interested in ‘preserving the past, revealing the present and creating the future through story and song’ as Taffy says.

The family band consists of Amy, Gavin, Liz and Paul (and occasionally Fergus). They perform a range of traditional material together with more modern offerings in a very traditional style. Their songs are drawn either from extensive research into the tradition or spring from Gavin’s or Paul’s ever-fertile pens. Many of their songs are now to be found in the repertoires of some very well-known performers both in UK as well as further afield. Their performance of these is both accompanied, either on duet concertina, guitar or cittern, or unaccompanied.

The Wilson Family is an English folk music group from Billingham, Teesside, North East England. They have been singing and performing a cappella folk songs since 1974. Over those decades the group members have consisted of sister Pat and five brothers: Tom, Chris, Steve, Ken and Mike.

The accepted benchmark for powerhouse unaccompanied singing, they were awarded the Gold Badge of the English Folk Dance & Song Society (EFDSS) in 2017, the highest honour the society can bestow.

The present-day group are the original core members, Tom, Chris and Steve and youngest brother Mike.

Vic Gammon is a singer and instrumentalist (playing mainly the tenor banjo, anglo-concertina and melodeons) originally from the south now lives in Hexham, Northumberland. He performs English traditional songs, instrumental music and his own compositions. He is also a writer, researcher and podcaster and served on the Editorial Board of the Folk Music Journal for 37 years. He has composed and provided music for stage and radio plays, and been a member of various groups including The Etchingham Steam Band with Shirley Collins in the 1970s, and Dearman, Gammon and Harrison from the 1990s until 2017.

White Rose Morris Men are a Cotswold side, formed in Leeds in the autumn of 1953. In 1971 they moved to Huddersfield where they have remained to this day, occasionally venturing out to performances around the country. They celebrated their 70th anniversary in 2023 with a weekend of dance and other social events. Their kit is white shirts and trousers, with green baldrics and straw hats. They currently perform dances from the traditions of Oddington, Headington, Bampton, Adderbury and the local tradition of Fartown.