If you’re wondering what to do this weekend, don’t make any plans until you’ve read about the Folkstation Festival taking place at Havenstreet Steam Railway.
It kicks off on Friday night with a gig featuring the legendary folk musicians Tom Leary and PJ Wright and then goes into two days of music, entertainment, real ale, a craft fair and workshops for kids and adults.
You can even opt to camp on site if you want and the steam railway will be operating throughout.
This looks to be a great weekend of live music and features many Island musicians as well. Expect sets from Jamie Griffin (pictured) from Newport, performing Blues, Jazz and Folk on accoustic guitar, mandolin and harmonica.
Other soloists include vocalist Elaine Greenwood, singer songwriter Graham McCullough, folk-rock ‘busker’ David Hughes, and Tali Trow who has received praise from, among others, rock-band ‘Razolight’ and well-known compaser Tony Hatch!
A band already hailed as the Island’s new ‘supergroup’ are also bound to attract a lot of interest – The line-up of ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ reads like a listing of veteran Island musicians and they always perform a storming set, taking the audience through what feels like an anthology of English folk-rock.
Ryde-based Wild Oats, a six-piece Folk’n’Roll thing described as ‘Awesome’ by TV presenter Chris Packham, have already secured an avid following locally since appearing twice at the annual IW Festival.
Lucid and Shoot the Moon will both add their original sound to the proceedings, while the Island’s own Irish musicians, Last Orders bring the sounds of Irish traditional music to FolkStation.
“If last year is anything to go by, I know FolkStation will be a memorable festival”, said IW Steam Railway General Manager, Peter Vail. “The organisers have worked hard to bring in acts widely known in folk and blues circles, and we’re aiming to make this a really friendly event. Blend the music with our perfect backdrop of the IW Steam Railway, plenty of activities for families and children, plus a real-ale bar, and FolkStation will offer a welcome relief to big festival fatigue”.
More details on the Folkstation Festival Website
