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Tenterden Folk Festival is a four day long festival of folk song, music and dance.  Tenterden, situated in the ancient Weald of Kent, about 12 miles west of Ashford, is an ideal setting for this friendly, family folk festival.  It features one of the widest High Streets in the country lined with historic and listed buildings, numerous friendly pubs and restaurants and green verges.

There are numerous videos of Tenterden Folk Festival 2012 on YouTube at www.youtube.com.  Go to YouTube and search for Tenterden Folk Festival 2012 to see a few of them.  See Luke Jackson, Green Diesel, Frankie the Gambler, Liberty Morris, Bow n Belles and many others.  We have Tweeted some of the links so check out Twitter for them as well.

We also run a monthly sing-a-round style folk song and music session  at The William Caxton on the second Tuesday of every month.  Click on picture to go to the "Tenterden Folk Club" page.

Concerts, barn dance, sing-a-rounds, music sessions and workshops are a popular feature of the festival

We also aim to showcase younger folk musicians and local bands such as Green Diesel pictured above.

Tanglefoot Appalachian are regular visitors to the festival where they join around 60 other dance display teams and Morris sides.  There is a festival procession along the High street on Saturday.

A large marquee on the Recreation Ground is now home to the craft fair and other stalls as well as a showcase stage and dance stage.  
Street stalls line the lower High Street.

Past guests at the festival are too numerous to list but have included many of the top names on the folk scene from Martin Carthy to Shirley Collins, John Kirkpatrick, Jez Lowe, Ashley Hutchings, Ian Campbell, Pete Coe, Roy Harris and many others.  Our policy is also to include many of the folk musicians who still tour the clubs, festivals and art centres. 

Fanfare Ciocarlia, a gypsy brass band from Romania are among the past overseas guests.  We include groups from overseas where the music is relevant to our traditions or has a local connection.  Guests have come from Romania, Slovakia, Germany, Holland, Gambia, South Africa, Canada and the USA.

Listen to the Wood and Wire, Ashford's own folk music programme on AHBS Community Radio, Wednesdays at 9.00 p.m. on 107.1 fm. 
Click on logo to hear the Tenterden Folk Festival review show on 5th October 2011; music from Pete Castle, Steve O'Kane & Fiona McBain, Marian Button, Sue Watson and a lot more.

Check out what is on at St Mary's Arts Centre, Ashford's arts and music venue, on their website

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