We’ve Reached Our Fundraising Target

We’ve only gone and done it!

We’ve reached our fundraising target of £1,500 🎉

Thank you so much! What a wonderful, lovely lot you are.

Special (Covid-free) hand shakes go to Stuart Cunningham who tipped us over the £1500 mark a few days ago.

As a ‘not for profit’ community event, your generosity has helped us to fill the gap created by our 2020 event not taking place.

Our event runs year round out-reach projects such Making Your Mark (ukulele sessions for mainly older people) and Musical Minds (improving mental health through music). All monies raised will go to making sure our event and outreach projects can survive and get even better.

Your support is hugely appreciated and will mean we can continue to benefit the community and, in particular, disadvantaged groups within it.

𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑵𝑲 𝒀𝑶𝑼!

Find out more: Southdowns Folk Festival Fundraising Campaign

Bognor Radio Respect

Bognor Radio Respect are one of our key partners for the ‘Musical Minds’ festival project, which we will be running in the lead-up to, and during, this September’s Festival.

Bognor Radio Respect follows the ethos of being dedicated to mental health and wellbeing. It is an online radio station with live shows hosted by a team of dedicated volunteers, discussing mental health issues, offering information and advice, while also playing some great music.

Music has always been a great way to combat stress and depression. The station uses their love of music to help lift those that are struggling, with many of their presenters finding that producing their shows live on air has helped them with their own mental health.

The station offer support for people dealing with mental health matters, including wellbeing advice and information about other helpful organisations. They are dedicated to bringing the mental health community closer together, helping people to understand their condition, offer helpful and practical information, locally in Bognor Regis as well as world-wide.

If you like what the station are doing and think you can help, please contact them via email at contactus@bognorradiorespect.org

Further news about our Musical Minds project can be found via Musical Minds.

McGoldrick, McCusker & Doyle at HOME this Spring

McGoldrick, McCusker & Doyle at HOME this Spring 🎶

We’ve teamed with our friends at WemsFest to host a show on Friday 2nd April at 8pm.

Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker and John Doyle have recorded a very special show to be streamed straight to your laptop, tablet or TV. Following on from their successful Christmas tour the trio will perform some old favourites that anyone who has seen them in the flesh will recognise.

Best known for their work with Bob Dylan, Mark Knopfler and BBC Transatlantic Sessions as well as artists including Solas, Capercaillie and Kate Rusby, the multi award winning trio have recorded a 45 minute set.

Each show is different and at the end, questions submitted from the audiences of each venue and festival make for some unique moments.

Ticket sales will be split between the artists and the individual venues/festivals, so you can be confident that your purchase will not only support McGoldrick, McCusker and Doyle, but also your local venues, promoters and festivals.

What happens now:
Go to Mcgoldrick Mccusker & Doyle Ticket Link and find the date below that you want to buy a ticket for. Please ensure you click to buy tickets for the 2nd April show, to help support our 2021 festival, as well as our friends at WemsFest.

Once you have purchased your ticket you will receive an email with information about how to watch the show in the comfort of your own home. Each ticket will allow one more screening within a 7day period.

Many thanks for your continued support.

An Evening With Breabach

Tuesday 16th February. 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm. Tickets: £12.

We have joined forces with WemsFest and the Wickham Music Festival to bring you a wonderful, hour long evening, with Breabach.

The evening features Dùsgadh (see meaning below), as well as behind the scenes footage and unseen live performances from the band, plus a Q&A hosted by BBC Radio Scotland broadcaster and musician Anna Massie.

Dùsgadh (n. awakening) is an exciting new collaboration between Scottish Bafta winning animator Cat Bruce and internationally renowned, multi award-winning folk group, Breabach.

This unique and innovative project takes the form of an animated film with original score. Based on ‘The Sea Maiden’ a folkloric tale collected by John Francis Campbell, the film is available to view in Gaelic and English, narrated by renowned tradition bearer Margaret Bennet. It features a soundtrack comprising five new pieces of music, one from each of Breabach’s five members. It is a powerful and poignant piece of work conceived and delivered throughout a turbulent and challenging year for the arts; all music was written, recorded and produced individually, from home.

Tickets cost £12 and proceeds will be split between the artists, WemsFest, Southdowns Folk Festival and Wickham Festival.

Times are hugely challenging for artists, and the whole live music scene currently.
We are really pleased to be part of this project, so please do lend your support and buy your tickets. When you book you’ll get instructions on how to access the event. Your ticket will also enable you to watch the show a second time – up until 8th March.

To book your tickets please click here.

While it’s possible to buy tickets for any of the shows on the tour, please do buy them for ‘our’ show so that Southdowns Folk Festival, and friends, benefit.

Spring Raffle

Building on the ongoing success of our ongoing fundraising campaign, we have launched a Spring Raffle.

A £5 donation, via our Go Fund Me Page, will buy you a ticket.

Prizes include ukuleles, travel amps, ukulele cases (courtesy of Excelsior Ukulele Music), and many other fabulous prizes.

Once you have purchased your ticket(s), simply e-mail mjsteer@aol.com with your contact details, so that your ticket(s) can be allocated to you.

The draw will take place at the Easter Ukulele Celebration on Thursday 22nd April at the Alexandra Theatre, Bognor Regis. Further details of this event will follow soon.

All proceeds raised will go towards the 2021 Southdowns Folk Festival.

Thank you for your ongoing support 🎶

Order Festival Tickets By Post

You are now able to purchase your 2021 Southdowns Folk Festival tickets by post.

The downloadable booking form is available here. Simply print it out and forward it, with the relevant payment, to the address listed on the form.

There are no booking fees on tickets ordered by post.

Printed ticket confirmation will be posted to you within 10 days of your order.
If the festival is not staged for any reason, your payment will be refunded in full.

Many thanks for your order!

McGoldrick, McCusker & Doyle: Christmas at Home

McGoldrick, McCusker & Doyle: Christmas at Home. Tuesday 15th December.

Jointly promoted by Southdowns Folk Festival, Wickham Festival and WemsFest, this unique online show will be streamed live on Tuesday 15th December with tickets priced at £12 each.

If you haven`t seem these guys, you’re in for a real treat.

Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker and John Doyle have recorded a very special Christmas show to be streamed into the homes of people the length and breadth of the UK.

Linking with venues and festivals from the Highlands of Scotland across the sea to Belfast and on to the far south of England, the trio will bring Christmas cheer directly to audiences in their own homes.

The trio are delighted to present their inaugural Christmas concert featuring a diverse mix of classic Christmas melodies, traditional and contemporary songs and tunes. Whether performing material such as the medieval based song Curoo Curoo, John Shehan’s hauntingly beautiful melody Christchurch or the majestic O Holy Night, their decades of
renowned musical expertise creates a magical and lasting impression.

Best known for their work with Bob Dylan, Mark Knopfler and BBC Transatlantic Sessions as well as artists including Solas, Capercaillie and Kate Rusby, the multi-award winning trio have recorded a 45 minute set full of Christmas tunes, as well as some firm favourites.

Each show is different and at the end, questions submitted from the audiences of each venue and festival make for some unique moments. All ticket buyers will be given the opportunity to submit a question for their own unique event.

Michael McGoldrick explained “We felt we wanted to connect with people at this time of year and had been looking for a way to do this. This November we were supposed to be performing in Switzerland and the Czech Republic. John Doyle had flown over from his home in the US to be part of the tour. The tour was cancelled at short notice and so we thought, this is our chance to use the time to record something special”

Ticket sales will be split between the artists and the individual venues/festivals, so you can be confident that your purchase will not only support McGoldrick, McCusker and Doyle at Christmas, but also your local venues, promoters and festivals.

What happens now:
Go to https://myplayer.uk/christmasathome
and find the date below that you want to buy a ticket for. Once you have purchased your ticket you will receive an email with information about how to watch the show in the comfort of your own home.

All concerts will begin at 7.30pm or 8pm, depending on the venue, on the date you purchase your ticket for.

Each ticket will allow one more screening within a 7 day period. Tickets are valid for one device at a time and cannot be shared.

Ukulele Christmas Celebration

*Please note: this event is now postponed until early 2021*

On Wednesday 16th December, we very much hope to be holding a UKULELE CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION in the Alexandra Theatre, Bognor Regis, from 2pm – 4pm.

Tickets will just be £5 and available from www.regiscentre.co.uk or from the box office on 01243 861010.

Tickets will be on sale from Saturday 31st October; an event to really look forward to.

Thanks and stay safe.