The first headline acts for Cambridge Folk Festival 2022 have been revealed, with tickets now on general sale.
Seasick Steve, Passenger, Clannad, Suzanne Vega, St Paul and the Broken Bones, and Spell Songs are among the eclectic names in the first line-up announcement for next summer's festival.
This Is The Kit, Show of Hands, Julie Fowlis, The Young’uns, Flook and Katherine Priddy have also been confirmed for the festival held in the picturesque grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall.
“After a two-year break, I'm so excited to see the Cambridge Folk Festival return to Cherry Hinton Hall,” said Cllr Anna Smith, leader of Cambridge City Council and executive councillor for communities.
“For many, including me, the festival is a highlight of the summer. I'll be booking my ticket straight away.”
Cambridge Folk Festival will return after a two-year hiatus from July 28 to July 31 with international chart-topper Passenger headlining in 2022.
Passenger, aka Mike Rosenberg, has progressed from his 2011 CFF debut on emerging talent stage The Den to headlining Stage 1 in 2015, when he also drew record crowds with an impromptu busking session.
The Brighton singer-songwriter's sleeper hit single Let Her Go topped the charts around the world and scooped an Ivor Novello Award and a Brit Award nomination for single of the year.
The video for Passenger's Let Her Go has had over 3 billion views on YouTube.
His album Young as the Morning, Old as the Sea topped the UK charts in 2016.
Appearing for the first time at CFF since 2010, Seasick Steve will bring his unique take on blues, roots and country music.
Renowned for his personalised instruments and explosive, rocking live performances, his headline set is guaranteed to bring the house down.
Making a second appearance at the festival, St Paul and the Broken Bones are an American eight-piece soul band from Birmingham, Alabama, whose joyous sound is set to take Cambridge by storm.
Multi-award-winning Clannad, best known for Theme From Harry’s Game and hit single In a Lifetime, will make a much-anticipated return to play the festival’s first-ever Folk Legends slot during their farewell tour.
One of the finest and most prolific singer-songwriters of her generation, Suzanne Vega celebrates her catalogue of hits with her current live album, An Evening of New York Songs and Stories.
Perfect timing then to take to the stage at Cherry Hinton Hall to perform ground-breaking songs such as Tom’s Diner, Luka, Marlene On The Wall, and many other gems from across her 35-year career.
CFF organisers are also excited to host the unmissable Spell Songs, a musical companion to The Lost Words and The Lost Spells books by acclaimed author Robert Macfarlane and award-winning illustrator Jackie Morris.
The Spell Songs ensemble features the renowned talents of Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, Seckou Keita, Kris Drever, Rachel Newton, Beth Porter and Jim Molyneux.
One of the world’s foremost Gaelic singers and Scotland’s inaugural ‘Tosgaire na Gàidhlig’ (National Gaelic Ambassador), Julie Fowlis will also appear in a solo capacity at the festival.
Also playing in 2022 are highly rated alt-folk band This Is The Kit, aka Kate Stables and her band who count Elbow's Guy Garvey among their fans.
Regarded as one of the leading forces in British folk, Show of Hands – the redoubtable Steve Knightley and Phil Beer – will also perform at the Cambridge festival.
There's a welcome return for festival favourites Spiers And Boden, while South America’s hugely popular Chico Trujillo, aka ‘The Latin Gogol Bordello’, will bring their mixture of New Chilean Rock to Cherry Hinton Hall.
Triple BBC Folk Awards winners The Young’uns, rising blues prodigy, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, and The Mary Wallopers, a folk group from Dundalk, will all appear at the festival.
The line-up also includes The Spooky Men’s Chorale, Davina & The Vagabonds, Manchester-based alt-folk duo The Breath, featuring guitarist Stuart McCallum and BBC Folk Award winner singer Ríoghnach Connolly, and Essex-born folk songwriter Beans on Toast.
Other names on the bill include Dustbowl Revival, a seven-piece Americana soul band from California, talented multi-instrumentalist N’famady Kouyaté, Katherine Priddy, VRï, Tapestri, and The Honest Poet.
Tickets are available from www.cambridgelive.org.uk/folk-festival/tickets
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