A closing set from Levellers, the final UK festival performance from the legendary Oysterband and exclusive shows from Canadian fiddle maestros Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy as they return to the world stage are among the highlights of the first artists revealed for the 2025 Shrewsbury Folk Festival.
Oysterband will bow out with a headline slot over August Bank Holiday weekend as well as returning to their roots for one final ceilidh and talking about their careers in a special ‘An Audience with the Oysterband’ Q & A.
Celtic superstars and power couple Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy will perform their only English shows next year at the festival as they tour outside of North America for the first time in 25 years while Levellers will close the festival, headlining its Severn stage.
Also confirmed so far are Skerryvore (Scotland) celebrating their 20th anniversary, Judie Tzuke, The Henry Girls (Ireland), 9Bach (Wales), Jim Moray, The Fontanas, The Laurettes (Scotland), Naomi Bedford and the Ramshackle Band, Shrewsbury’s own Dan Owen, Edwina Hayes, Bryony Griffith & Alice Jones, We Mavericks (Australia/ New Zealand), Harbottle & Jonas, andThe Norfolk Broads.
Making a welcome return after overwhelming demand from festival fans following their triumphant festival debut this year will be El Pony Pisador (Spain) with Haitian voodoo songstress Moonlight Benjamin also making a revisit.
And Shrewsbury will host one of only four exclusive festival performances from a new project by the Melrose Quartet. Music, Heritage, Place will bring to life music that is discovered through exploration of more than 600 music manuscripts and items of printed music in English county records offices as they are catalogued in an international database for the first time. The project is being funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and led by Royal Holloway, University of London and Newcastle University in partnership with the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
Sandra Surtees, director of the award-winning festival, said: “We are delighted to have so many incredible names in our first wave of artists and some amazing exclusives for our festivalgoers. We are honoured that Oysterband has chosen Shrewsbury as the stage for their final UK farewell and this will be a show not to miss.
“Along with the return of Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, a new project from the Melrose Quartet and much more to be confirmed, the line-up is already looking incredible strong. After an amazing 2024 festival, our ticket sales are already way ahead compared to this time last year, so we’re on course for a great 2025.”
www.shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk
