First Artists Announced for Manchester Folk Festival / EFEx 2025!
Manchester Folk Festival / English Folk Expo returns March 20th – 22nd 2025 to some of the best music venues the North has to offer, with Band on the Wall, Hallé St Peters, Night & Day, The Castle, Hallé at St Michael’s and New Century Hall all confirmed so far.
Artists announced today are: The Longest Johns, Katherine Priddy, Jon Boden & The Remnant Kings, Nick Hart and Tom Moore, The Deep Blue, Cohen Braithwaite Kilcoyne and Holly Clarke.
About the artists:
Bellowhead frontman Jon Boden will be rallying The Remnant Kings, featuring Bellowhead’s Sam Sweeney, Leveret’s Rob Harbron, Ben Nicholls, Sally Hawkins and M. G. Boulter, for what’s guaranteed to be a standout headline set in support of their new album ‘Black Against The Sun’. Expect a genre-busting mix of folk, Bach, jazz and pop, alongside Boden’s award-winning originals.
For hypnotic Indie folk, festivalgoers should look no further than the blissful harmonies and finespun melodies of The Deep Blue, who perform everything from deeply personal vignettes to anthemic calls to arms.
Katherine Priddy, another rapidly rising name on the British scene and a graduate of English Folk Expo’s Artist Mentoring programme will play spellbinding songs from her acclaimed sophomore release ‘The Pendulum Swing’.
Although they’ve fiercely flown the flag for sea shanties for well over a decade, The Longest Johns became social media stars in 2021, with their version of ‘Wellerman’ becoming a worldwide viral sensation. With last week’s sold out Manchester show behind them and a no-stone-unturned European and US tour ahead, the trio show no signs of dropping anchor soon.
Last (but by no means least!), three acts who prove traditional music is in incredibly safe hands join the bill: master players Nick Hart and Tom Moore bring their absorbing textural blend of viola and tenor viol to proceedings, presenting innovative interpretations of tunes and songs from their LP ‘The Colour of Amber’; captivating balladeer and “rising star” (Tradfolk), Holly Clarke will draw on her rich repertoire of contemporary compositions, and songs of the supernatural and folklore; and Anglo concertina and melodeon ace Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne of Granny’s Attic and The Sorrow Songs band will return to the festival solo, fresh from releasing his third solo album.
Tom Besford, Chief Exec of English Folk Expo says:
“The response from delegates and artists to last year’s event was incredible. We cannot wait to see our fantastic venues buzzing with the very best in live folk and acoustic music for 3 very special days. ”
Industry Delegate Passes are available now - more information HERE.
Manchester Folk Festival 3-day wristbands are available HERE.
