Folk ready to party

More visitors than ever are expected at this year’s Gate To Southwell Folk Festival, which starts tomorrow.

Ticket sales for the event, which attracted about 5,000 people last year, are up by 10%. Marketing co-ordinator Mrs Lynne Morgan said they were hoping the festival, held on Normanton Road, would be the most successful yet.

She said: “I think it was always a risk holding the festival on the same weekend as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee but I think it’s paid off.

“We want to try to bring a younger audience on board, so we have set up a Facebook site and we regularly update our website and, for the first time, we will be streaming some of the festival live on our website.”

Jools Holland will perform on Friday after the festival has officially been launched with the annual procession of morris men from Southwell Minster.

Mrs Morgan said tickets for the Jools Holland concert were almost sold out.

“Hopefully he’s really going to bring in a new audience to see the site and hopefully that will encourage them to come back for the day,” she said.

An Alice In Wonderland-themed tea party will take place on Monday to mark the diamond jubilee. Other attractions will include folk music, entertainers, and music workshops, in Mongolian-style wooden huts known as yurts.

On Sunday there will be music and dancing in the Market Square.

For the first time there will be a horse and carriage to take visitors from the festival site to the town centre.

Reduced-cost tickets for Southwell residents are available on the day at £15 for the day.

Volunteers are being sought to help at the event in return for a free day ticket.

For more information visit www.southwellfolkfestival.org.uk