Thousands set for folk festival after ticket boost

Thousands of people are expected to attend the bank holiday weekend event

Shrewsbury Folk Festival has sold out of weekend tickets for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, organisers have said.

Festival preparations at the West Mid Showground started on Monday ready for campers arriving on Thursday and the music kicking off on Friday over the bank holiday weekend.

"Not only have we got amazing weather forecast - which is probably for the first time in a few years - it's our first sell out of weekend tickets since Covid," said Jo Cunningham, festival artist liaison. Day tickets are still available.

The event was now considered to be one of UK's "top folk festivals", she said, although the whole industry was hit hard by the pandemic.

"It's been a long haul back from that, it's really affected the festival industry as a whole," Ms Cunningham said.

"Many festivals have gone by the wayside - Cambridge Folk Festival which is one of the biggest in the UK isn't happening this year and is changing its format which gives you an idea about how challenging it has been for us.

"But, we've seen our way through it, we've got a sell out of weekend tickets, we do still have day tickets - the weather forecast is going to be amazing the sun is going to shine, it's just going to be a brilliant weekend."

Jo Cunningham, festival artist liaison, said it was great there was such a good weather forecast

The field at the showground would be "unrecognisable" after all the staging was in place by the weekend, along with help from 550 volunteers, she said.

"It's an amazing field, we've got the River Severn on one side, lovely hedges... you can probably see some Welsh hills but by this time on Friday it will look very, very different."

The event - with about 8,000 people expected this year - had always been well supported and the local economy was boosted with traders saying it was the biggest weekend of the year for them, Ms Cunningham said.

One fan in Australia comes to the UK for the event every year, she added, and she knew a couple who were delaying their move to Australia so they could make the event.

"It's fair to say we are one of the UK's top folk festivals," she said.

"It sounds a bit like we're bragging but it's just a fact. We've got a reputation for bringing in some amazing artists and it's a festival that artists want to play."

This year's line-up includes The Levellers, Judie Tzuke, The Oyster Band, El Pony Pisador and Holy Moly & The Crackers.