The Hexham Gathering brings top folk and traditional performers together with some of the brightest rising stars in the new generation of folk musicians.
The Hexham Gathering is perhaps the country’s leading folk festival aimed at providing performance opportunities for a host of hugely talented young singers, dancers and instrumentalists. Hundreds or performers converge on Hexham each year providing a vibrant kaleidoscope of music and spectacle throughout the town centre and at a variety of other venues across Tynedale.
Add in some stunning performances by professional artists and this becomes a true highlight of the folk year with concerts, ceilidhs, sessions, informal performances and more.
Preview of Hexham Gathering from Hexham Courant
Download the Gathering Programme here
Presented in association with the Sage Gateshead.
Future Traditions: A concert by finalists on Newcastle University’s BMus in Folk and Traditional Music.
Wednesday 26 May 7.30pm At the Queen’s Hall Arts Centre
Fiddles, cellos, pipes, melodeon, mandolin, guitar, concertina and wonderful singing combine in a celebration of a wide range of approaches to folk music.
Tickets: £6.00 / £4.00 (conc) Book online
Emily Portman
Thursday 27 May 7.30pm At Stocksfield Institute and Community Centre, Stocksfield
Emily Portman is a singer, writer and concertina player with a BBC Folk Award nomination for her work with harmony trio The Devil’s Interval. Plus performances from Broomley First School, Down in the Attic and Stocksfield Stompers.
Click here to read BBC Tyne article on Emily's new record company.
Tickets: £6.00 / £4.00 (conc) Book online
Andy May
Clockwork / Toble / Cat Stew
Friday 28 May 7.30pm At Allendale Village Hall, Allendale
Andy May is an award-winning Northumbrian piper and piano player who works with Jez Lowe & the Bad Pennies and Baltic Crossing. Toble is one of the Queen’s Hall Arts Centre’s youth folk ensembles and both Clockwork and Cat Stew feature performers drawn from its ranks.
Presented in association with Northumbrian Music Nights.
Tickets: £6.00 / £4.00 (conc) Book online
Three Sharp Knives
Niamh Boadle / Jessica Lamb
Friday 28 May 7.30pm At the Hearth, Horsley
Three Sharp Knives is a new trio featuring Stewart Hardy, Ruth Ball and Matt Price. Niamh Boadle was a finalist in the 2010 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award and Jessica Lamb is one of the county’s brightest young Northumbrian Pipers.
Tickets: £6.00 / £4.00 (conc) Book online
Saturday 29 May Events
Hexham’s streets will be filled with free outdoor music throughout the day. Meanwhile the Queen’s Hall plays hosts to a series of free informal afternoon concerts – the day culminating in a stunning concert in the Queen’s Hall theatre and a gigantic ceilidh at the Wentworth Leisure Centre.
Songs, dancing and tunes throughout Hexham with outdoor performances from 10.00 am – 4.00pm in Hexham Town Centre
The Travelling Museum of British Folklore
Saturday 29 May In Sele Park, Hexham
Simon Costin is an art director, designer and installation artist; he is also a man with a mission. He wants to open the UK's first museum dedicated to British Folklore and to this end has already begun his tour of the British Isles with his travelling museum, housed within a painted caravan.
Ceilidh
12.30pm – 2.00pm At The Bandstand, Sele Park
An informal, outdoor ceilidh around the bandstand with plenty of room to dance! Come and listen, come and dance, bring your picnic and join in the fun. Free.
Informal Concert
2.00pm At Queen’s Hall Arts Centre
Soloists, duos, bands and more in a fast flowing afternoon of acoustic music. Free entry
The Demon Barbers, Emily Portman
Saturday 29 May 7.00pm At the Queen’s Hall Arts Centre
English folk powerhouse The Demon Barbers team up with some of England’s most exciting young traditional dancers to create an energetic evening of music and dance. Driven by a powerful rhythm section, the Barbers’ produce high octane songs of myth and magic with charisma and attitude. Have a listen here.
Emily Portman with Christi Andropolis and Rachael McShane are a mesmerising trio with spine tingling vocal harmonies and fine instrumentation.
Tickets: £12.00 / £10.00 (conc) / £5.00 (student / Under 18) Book online
Wentworth Leisure Centre Ceilidh
Saturday 29 May 7.30pm – 11.00 pm At the Wentworth Leisure Centre, Hexham
Put on your dancing shoes and join us in a giant ceilidh. An event suitable for all members of the family.
Tickets: £6.00 / £4.00 (conc) Book online
A money-saving combined ticket is available for both the Queen’s Hall concert and the Wentworth Ceilidh. Tickets for all events from Queen’s Hall Box Office 01434 652477
Tickets: £16.00 / £12.00 (conc) [not available online]
Sunday 30 May Events
Toble, Down in the Attic, Folkestra
1.00pm At the Queen’s Hall Arts Centre
Three fine young ensembles playing traditional music with passion and energy. Toble and Down in the Attic are both based in Queen’s Hall Arts Centre. Folkestra is The Sage Gateshead’s youth folk ensemble directed by Kathryn Tickell.
Tickets: £6.00 / £4.00 (conc) Book online
Mabon and Spinndrift
2.30pm Gig in the Park: In the Abbey Grounds: a free open air concert by the bandstand.
Spinndrift are an exciting new 5 piece band formed on the Folk Degree at Newcastle University, performing a range of folk and traditional music from the British Isles and Europe. Mabon deliver dynamic, groove laden Celtic music. The beautifully crafted tunes in fact incorporate influences from across the whole spectrum of Celtic and European musical expressions. The six-piece band is packed with attitude and joy, and determination to pass that on to the audiences!
Free Event