Catherine and Paul here and we’ve got big news for you… WE’RE MOVING SITE!  We’ve had a lot of good times on Wilkswood Farm, but we’ve found another farm which is much easier to use, better access to all stages and it’s just down the road – Purbeck Valley Farm. Excellent news!
So, we bring you… PURBECK VALLEY FOLK FESTIVAL!

Moving with us to the new site…
The same great music
The same great sound and stage teams
The same great atmosphere – it’s the people that come that make the festival after all.
Purbeck Rising – where we showcase new talent
The Beard Off – any opportunity to celebrate hairy faces!
Kids entertainment – Rose and her team with the kids’ crafts, Walk the Lines storytelling tent, Treasure Hunt, puppet shows, the wishing tree, giant Scrabble, the cinema, theatre and games workshops, youth music workshops, lullabies session
Steve Biddle’s Poetry Slam
Same great choice of reasonably priced food outlets.
Same great variety of festival stalls
Meditation area with yoga, synergy sound circle, laughter yoga and meditation
The fancy dress theme – it was sooooo good this year!
The join-in-able bits… open mic stages, sing-arounds, sessions, music workshops, craft workshops, ceilidhs and guerrilla ceilidhs.

We’re taking the HEART and SOUL of Purbeck Folk Festival and moving it to Purbeck Valley Farm – welcome to Purbeck Valley Folk Festival!

What will be different…
The bar – run by a different team. We love our ales and ciders! We’ve listened to your feedback – we’ll have less ales, but more on at a time, so when you find one that you really like and go back for a second pint, it’ll still be available!

Our main stages have a concrete base floor so we’ll be able to boogie away and not kick up so much dust that we can’t breath!

There’s no toilet-cesspit combo at the back of our main stage so we’ll be rid of the bad smells – yay!

Better news still – we’ve been able to re-negotiate and get rid of the online ticket buying charge. It’s no longer a percentage of the ticket price, just a one off transaction fee of £4 no matter how many tickets you are buying. So that works out even cheaper!

We’ve parted company with Mick and Phil who have been doing the production and bar at the festival in the past and they will be working on their own projects. We wish them luck.

First Bookings
We’re working hard on bringing you the same top quality folk music that you have come to expect. Lots of acts already booked – look forward to the return of some of the Purbeck favourites!
We will be ready to release our first Purbeck Valley Folk Festival bookings in the new year.

Yes, we’re sticking to the Bank Holiday – put the date in your diary NOW! And we’ll see you then.

Standing in a sheep barn, supping a pint of fine ale, Palmer’s Gold I think it was, and rocking just a few yards away, from one of the finest voices the UK has ever heard, and sounding as good as he did in the 80′s.

There was no commotion, just Lloyd Cole and his guitar, which seemed to be physically part of him; an extension of his body and soul. The warm crowd bellowed for more at the end of his one hour set, which had been a master class of musical craft, and he lit up the barn with Forest Fire.

To my shame it was my first visit to the Purbeck Folk Festival, and yet I have been holidaying at Corfe Castle, at the Ram family’s Norden Farm since I was a teenager. My partner Emma had been much more observant and had noticed the posters, for this year’s Purbeck Folk Festival : Idlewild, The South, Eddie Reader, and Lloyd Cole, just to mention a few of the names that stood out…”how can I possibly have missed this event before?” I berated myself.

So on the last night of holiday with the various off spring back home, and attending the Reading rock festival, we descended into the valley, with stunning views of the sun setting Swanage sea one way, and the all commanding Corfe Castle the other.

We couldn’t hear a sound, which made us wonder if we had come to the right place, but then we spotted the first Yurts and Wigwams poking out from the trees.

We entered the site, ushered in by the wonderful smells of world cuisine and wood oak smoke, and maybe candles. Now we could hear the music, but it was so much more than that. Out of the tent to the right was a clarinet rich man’s voice, caramelising some verse. Laughter from the left, then invited us that way, and all around was a buzz, of chatter, smiling anticipation and people of all ages mingling and exploring the sights, sounds and creativity, on a myriad of stalls.

It was Sunday evening and there so much to see, bands on several different stages, and the sound from each didn’t interfere with the others. The music was playing in genuine sheep barns, with gates, and the odd bit of wool clinging to the walls, which gave the whole atmosphere, a wonderfully real and wholesome feel.

Barrels of the finest beers and ciders were racked on the back wall of the bar barn, and with so much to choose from at very reasonable prices, I just wished we’d had been here for the whole day.

I still had time to grab a pint before joining the crowd in the long barn for Lloyd Cole. The acoustics and lighting were first class and did everything to enhance the experience.

We still had time to then move to the High Barn where we were in for a real treat. The fantastically entertaining Caravan of Thieves. Not a band I had heard of before, but wow what energy and diversity: so much that I downloaded the album the next day.

I only got a glimpse of this year’s festival, but would definitely come back. I am not neccessarily a folk follower, but would say this festival has something for all, whatever your tastes and age. It’s not just the impressive headline acts but the wonderful surprises you will get, whether it be the Thieves from the USA or more local Roving Crows.

I have been to all kinds of festivals and gigs, and this is right up there. My partner Emma is not a festival goer at all, but she loved it and felt really at home …especially when nature called. She was incredibly impressed over by the cleanliness and efficiency of the organic wood toilets. All totally environmentally friendly and allowing nature to take it’s course in more ways than one.

I have always been in love with Swanage and Purbeck as a whole, but now I have discovered one of its gems. I am sorry I have missed previous Purbeck Folk Festivals, but am glad I got to the best one yet and now I am on a mission to prove to my 17 year old Lucy, why she missed out going to Reading.

Thanks to Paul, Phil, Mick and Cath and all the volunteers who made it possible. It was a stunning event.

We have a lot of Lost Property that we want to return to its rightful owners. This includes items of clothing, purple polka-dot glasses, tobacco pouches, purses (still containing money), a camera, and even pirate masks.

If you have something that you need back urgently, please email me . At some point next week or so I’ll make a list to stick up here and you can look and see what’s yours.

We also still have a camera from 2013′s festival that we don’t know what to do with! Let me know if it’s yours.

Thanks!

Thank you so much to everyone involved. It was an amazing weekend and all of the feedback we’ve had so far has been fantastic. And the rain even held until the last couple of acts. We’ve had a few days of soggy packing up, but it was worth it!

If you have feedback for us please email

Online and phone ticket sales finish at 2pm tomorrow. After that, you may be lucky and find a shop with some tickets still going at £100, but the gate price is then £120. It’s still a bargain – have you seen the price of other similar festivals? …and have you seen how much good music we have this year?! Buy now!

Yes! Wonderful news. Nizlopi will be doing a 2 hour songwriting workshop at Purbeck. They play their set on Friday night and on Saturday morning they’re coming back to share their knowledge. The workshop runs from midday until 2pm and is limited numbers so get there early.

Thursday: Box office 2pm-10pm, music 7pm-midnight
Friday: Box office 10am-10pm, music midday-midnight
Saturday: Box office 10am-9pm, music 11:30am-midnight
Sunday: Box office 10am-9pm, music 11:30am-midnight