Having worked with over 150 musicians across the country, raised over £10,000 for local charities and recently become a double award-winning music festival, there’s no limit to what York’s Little Festival of Live Music can achieve.
The festival which was accidentally created with three weeks’ notice in 2013 has soared in popularity since its formation with many hailing it the number one music festival in York. The Festival, which hosts two events a year – one in September alongside the York Food and Drink Festival and a mini-fest in early spring – is already raring to go with their first event of 2018 – the Acoustic and Folk Mini-Fest, which will take place at The Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green on Saturday 31 March, 2.30pm-9pm.
Ellen, the Curator of the festival, says “We love hosting a small event at the start of the year and then building it into something bigger in time for the September festival. I am passionate about collaborating with Grassroots and Independent Talent across the UK and enjoy helping them showcase their work to established and new music lovers. The beauty of our events is that they are family-friendly, it’s great to see a wide range of audiences brought together to celebrate and support great live music. This year we have a host of fine Yorkshire talent taking to the stage at The Black Swan Inn. Every act is completely different from one another and our audiences are guaranteed to discover an eclectic range of music – it’s truly going to be an afternoon and evening of musical delights.”
This year’s mini-fest will feature rising young performer Scarlett Gordon, gypsy-celtic group Leather’o; traditional folk and multi-instrumentalist Toni Bunnell who will be launching her highly anticipated seventh album at the event; norse folk group Bruni; local acoustic legend David Ward Maclean; Plumhall’s Nick Hall who will be performing a rare solo set at the festival and voice of an angel Edwina Hayes, who has won her reputation as a true natural talent of gentle folk-Americana and will be headlining the Mini-Fest.
Ellen goes on to say: “the line-up for our mini-fest is phenomenal. If you have never experienced live music before or maybe you want to explore your local music scene then this is an event which should not be missed.”
Entry into the festival is free of charge, however, a suggested donation of £5 will be welcomed. These donations will be given to The Island Mentoring Scheme – a local children’s charity which supports vulnerable children from York.
Applications from musicians wishing to take part in the September festival will open on Sunday 1 April and the deadline to apply will be Thursday 31 May. To apply, email yorkslivemusicfestival@gmail.com.
For more information on the Acoustic and Folk Mini-Fest go to facebook.com/YorksLittleFestivalOfLiveMusic, follow on Twitter @live_music_fest or email yorkslivemusicfestival@gmail.com.
York’s Little Festival of Live Music’s Mini-Fest takes place at The Black Swan Inn on Saturday 31 March 2018 from 2.30pm-9pm (doors open at 2.15pm).