Village folk festival enjoying cult success

The festival includes the burning of the Allendale wolf, a giant wooden structure based on local legend

Organisers of a 150-capacity folk festival say they have gone from struggling to sell tickets to selling out.

Now in its 12th year, the Allen Valleys Folk Festival in Northumberland has been quietly accumulating a cult following and "turned a corner after Covid".

Despite attracting names such as The Unthanks, Kathryn Tickell and Johnny Flynn, those behind the event have strived to keep it as local as possible, with most tickets reserved for people living in and around the village of Allendale.

Speaking about the most recent festival, which took place at the end of September, chairman Craig Atkinson said tickets had sold out in two hours and it had been "another amazing year".

Headlined by London-based Cosmo Sheldrake, the event included spoken word, dance performances and various workshops across the weekend.

One of the highlights was the now-annual burning of the Allendale wolf bonfire, based on local legend.

"Organised and run by volunteers, this has been another amazing year for our community-based festival," Mr Atkinson said.

Newcastle-based music collective Cosys Ex played on the Saturday afternoon

Mr Atkinson said the board had tried to cater the festival towards locals in recent years after a disjointed first few editions, giving residents priority and discounted tickets.

"In the early years, the ticket sales weren't great," he said.

"I mean, the funding was there but it just had that feeling of us and them."

In March, about 100 tickets went up for sale in the village's church hall before opening up to the wider public. They sold out within two hours.

"That was brilliant," the festival chairman added.

"I mean, we had those queues out the door."

He said that the size of the festival was due to the capacity of the village hall, but that it was a "lovely limiting factor".

The wolf structure was created by Jonah Maurice, Bill Pierce and Ashley Hipkin

"I think we turned a corner after Covid," Mr Atkinson said.

"A couple of years ago we had Karine Polwart who headlined our Sunday afternoon, and it felt the weekend was quite big then.

"I think we sold out the weekend for the first time."

Mr Atkinson said the festival had become more of a family in recent years too.

After performing on the main stage last year, folk musician and actor Johnny Flynn made an impromptu return this year when he was visiting the area.

Saturday night culminated in the burning of the wolf, a model which was constructed by Jonah Maurice, Bill Pierce and Ashley Hipkin.

Based on the legend of a wolf blamed for the slaughter of livestock in 1904, the burning of the giant wooden structure attracts massive crowds to the village.

"I think we've had six or seven [burnings of the wolf], but the first one it was just one man and his dog there," Mr Atkinson said.

"But now it's crazy, there's hundreds of people."