welcome

Welcome to the fifth year of Moseley Folk!

After much anticipation we can finally announce our 2010 lineup. We're very proud that this year's headliner is the mighty Donovan. Supporting him on the Saturday main stage are The Low Anthem, Johnny Flynn, The High Llamas, Spider John Koerner, Alasdair Roberts and Lisa Knapp.

On the Sunday we bring you the much loved institution that is the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Supporting them on the main stage we have The Unthanks, John Renbourn, Martin Simpson, The Destroyers, Urban Folk Quartet and Bella Hardy.

Our tradition of an eclectic folk influenced Friday continues this year with two headliners The Divine Comedy AND The Turin Brakes. Support on the main stage comes from Fyfe Dangerfield, Beth Jeans Houghton, Erland and the Carnival and Sparrow and the Workshop.

You'll find music and biographies of all the acts playing on the Main and Lunar stages on the Lineup page. We hope to see you all in September. In the meantime have a look at our programme of local events.

In May we'll be at the English Originals weekend at the Town Hall with an afternoon of up and coming West Midlands artists in the Symphony Hall foyer. And in June we have a day of folk and dance at the MAC with Cut a Shine and the Demon Barber Roadshow.

Love from
The Moseley Folk Festival team
info@moseleyfolk.co.uk

latest news

DONOVAN !-HEADLINE ACT

What Can We Say, We are still a bit speachless
DONOVAN IS COMING TO PLAY
MOSELEY FOLK FESTIVAL 2010
HAHAHA, YES!, YIPEEEEEEEE!

Donovan will be Saturday headline act playing with his full band. Expect to hear a prime pick of some of his 11 consecutive Top 40 hits and also a few suprises from the guru of British psychedelic folk. Just think Sunshine Superman, Legend of a Girl Child Linda, Catch The Wind, Colours, Mellow Yellow, There Is a Mountain, Jennifer Juniper, Season Of The Witch and Hurdy Gurdy Man.
WOW MAN! We just hope he plays Barabajagal! All these and more in the fantastic setting of Moseley Park What could be better? How are we going to top this next year?

The Low Anthem-Very Special Guests!

Supporting Donovan on Saturday evening we have The Low Anthem, all the way from Providence, Rhode Island USA.
We are very pleased indeed to have managed to book one of this years very few UK festival show from The Low Anthem.
Their distinct, anthemic brand of Americana manages to rise way above its influences, through its startling lyrical imagery and magical melodies. We know their set will be a very special moment for this year's festival. To hear such a truly world class act in Moseley park will be amazing, we hope you will enjoy it is as much as we will.

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

For this year's Sunday night Climax we have the unique phenomenon that is The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. What must of started as a mad idea over a fine pint of English ale has rapidly become one of the hottest tickets on the folk scene. Moving from renditions of Tchaikovsky to Otis Redding via Nirvana, Neil Diamond, the Sex Pistols, and Wagner, the Orchestra astonish audiences with the richness of the ukulele’s palette. No drums, no pianos, no backing tracks, pitch shifters or banjos. This is pure ukulele. We are very chuffed to have UOGB finish what looks like the best Moseley folk lineup to date. Bring your Uku and join in!

The Divine Comedy-Friday Double Headline

We think the bohemian vibe of Moseley fits Neil Hannon's eccentric tunes like a hand in glove. So we are very honoured to have Neil tread the boards in the park this year. The Divine Comedy are known for their fantastic live performances. The band go from strength to strength with their new album Bang Goes The Knighthood! Expect to hear songs from this and other classics including National Express and Something For The Weekend.

What better headliners for the first day of Moseley folk Festival 2010.

Turin Brakes-Friday Double Headliners

A very modern, Very English folk duo. Turin Brakes: childhood best mates Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian will double Headline Friday with The Divine Comedy which is undoubtedly the biggest bill Moseley park has seen on a friday night.

Those who have purchased their brand new album Outburst or managed to get a ticket for their recently sold out Glee Club performance will know that we are in for a fantastic set of foot stomping funky folk music.

The High Llamas -Our favourites!

Those of you who know the music of The High Llamas will know why we are so excited about managing to book this band. Their music is heavily influenced by Burt Bacharach, The Beach Boys & Brian Wilson with a moden twist. So what better way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon in
in Moseley park than listening to their modern classics such as Checking in, Checking out and Sparkle Up.

This Booking may be very self indulgent for us but as the band starts to play we know we won't be alone down the front chillin'.

The Unthanks- Back Once Again! .

After Rachel Unthank and the Winterset's fantastic appearance at Moseley Folk Festival in 2008 we just had to get them back.
The name has got smaller, now just 'The Unthanks' but the band has got a lot bigger, not just in record sales and fans but they are now a nine piece. Expect the best in haunting traditional Geordie Folk with a few North Eastern clog dances to boot.

FYFE- Moseley Boy Comes Home.

On friday supporting Divine Comedy & Turin Breaks we have Moseley boy and Guillemots front man Fyfe Dangerfield. This is a very special booking for us as Fyfe is a true Brummie and grew up in Moseley less than a mile from Moseley park, so when we asked him to play he said 'of course, I can have a pint in the Prince of Wales and catch up with all my mates.'

Please have a good look around on our lineup page to check out all the great acts we have at this year's festival. See you all in September, Over and Out!

OFFICIAL FESTIVAL AFTER PARTY - SATURDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER

@ THE HARE & HOUNDS, KINGS HEATH

After each day of the festival we’ve arranged for the fun to carry on in the local pubs. On Saturday we’ll be heading to the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath (just a mile from the festival park) for what is sure to be a raucous 21st century barn dance with the Cut A Shine Troupe. Make sure you bring your dancing shoes!

Head over after the festival closes. The bar will be open til very late.

Tickets are £5 and available at the festival shop and on the door.

Other Moseley folk Events - The Old Dance School - 15th September

@ THE HARE & HOUNDS, KINGS HEATH

Touring the UK throughout September, The Old Dance School are returning to Birmingham for an extra special night on home ground.

One of the young folk scene's hottest up and coming acts, this Birmingham based septet offers evocative images, blistering tunes and vivid songs whilst drawing from their classical and jazz informed backgrounds. Support will be provided by Sweng, a traditional music quartet with roots stretched between Sweden and England.

Tickets are £5 and only available on the door.

The Maladies of Bellafontaine - 1st October

@ THE HARE & HOUNDS, KINGS HEATH

We've been quite literally charmed by The Maladies of Bellafontaine and their psych-tinged folk. Their sound has been likened to a 'Ouija board session as drawn by Quentin Blake'. Soon they will be releasing their first single with top local label Static Caravan and you may have heard them on being played on BBC Radio 6 Music?

Support will be provided by one of our favourite up and coming Midlands acts - Malpas. Having taken their swooping folk-tronica on tour with Mr Hudson and supported OK GO, these guys are tipped for big things. You can also catch them at the festival on Saturday afternoon.

Tickets are £5 on the door.

Elijah Wolf & The Rubalous - 5th November

@ THE HARE & HOUNDS, KINGS HEATH

Their music has been described as “beautiful” and “delicious” and Elijah Wolf has been compared with many of the great song writers as well as Jose Gonzales, Badly Drawn Boy, The Verve and The Magic Numbers. Yet still, Elijah is hugely distinctive and definitely brings something new and exciting to the realm of acoustic, alternative singer songwriters.

Support will be provided by a new Birmingham folk act, Finding Calcutta. Formed right on our doorstep, in Moseley, they may be little known at present but we’re sure that that’s set to change.

Tickets are £5 and only available on the door.

Martin Carthy (SOLO) - 13th November

@ mac, CANNON HILL PARK

A trailblazer of the 1960's folk revival, The Godfather of folk, Martin Carthy brings his skills, stage presence and natural charm to mac for a solo performance in November.

A source of inspiration to Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Richard Thompson, Martin Carthy is one of the most influential figures in traditional British music. In 2005 he was awarded Folksinger of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and recognised with an MBE for serivces to English Music.

There will be support from special guests.

Tickets are £12 (£9 for concessions). To purchase go to http://www.macarts.co.uk/.

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festival videos & photos

Many of you have put some great photos of the festival on flickr. Click here to have look.

Our festival cameraman, Chris Keenan managed to film most of the acts over the festival weekend. He's put them all up on youtube for your entertainment. Click here to have a look

Here are just a few videos from the festival 2008. You can view loads more at our official Youtube site or in our gallery