Thousands flock to Cambridge Folk Festival after Covid restrictions lifted

Singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega is due to appear on Friday night

Thousands of music fans have been arriving for the first Cambridge Folk Festival since 2019.

The four-day event at Cherry Hinton Hall, which begins on Thursday, is being headlined by Suzanne Vega, Seasick Steve, Passenger, Billy Bragg and Gipsy Kings.

It is the first year it has been held since Covid restrictions were lifted.

The festival will also see local performers such as Norfolk's Elsi play the club tent on Friday.

Before playing the festival Elsi, from Diss, told BBC News: "Getting to play at Cambridge Folk Festival is an enormous honour and a real treat and I'm super excited to enjoy everything the weekend has to offer."

Performer Billy Bragg is due to perform at Cambridge Folk Festival on Sunday

Norfolk folk band Christina Alden and Alex Patterson are due to play the club tent on Saturday.

Helping out with workshops during the festival is fiddler Georgia Shackleton, of Norwich folk band the Shackleton Trio.

Fiddler, guitarist and songwriter Georgia Shackleton (centre) of the Shackleton Trio will be involved in workshops

Bev Burton, the festival's programmer, said: "We're honoured to have people like Gypsy Kings coming to the festival for the first time - but we've got so many [acts], such a broad range of artists and genres.

"You can see ballet, world artists, rappers - there's so much for everybody."

During the enforced break as a result of the pandemic, she said organisers "looked at making some changes - as we always do - but I think giving the festival a good breadth of artists has always been key for Cambridge".

"It has always presented one of the most exciting line-ups that there is in the UK," she said.