A festival celebrating the vision of the Artisan Ideal:
authenticity, artistry, connection and inspiration.
authenticity, artistry, connection and inspiration.
Whilst the Festival can't happen in 2020, due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, we are planning to bring you the festival in Spring 2021.
Keep an eye on our social media for all the latest news! Facebook Twitter
In the meantime, check out the history of the festival below.
Keep an eye on our social media for all the latest news! Facebook Twitter
In the meantime, check out the history of the festival below.
Festival of the Artisan 2019
26 May 2019
The Story and The Song
Celebrating the art, craft and power of the story and the song. This is one day jamboree brings together some amazing people to celebrate that marvellous mad human act of storytelling Be prepared, very prepared to be amused, provoked, moved, intrigued and SPELLBOUND !
A one day event that includes poetry and comedy sessions, good beer, wine and food and artists chosen because they can we spell through the stories and songs they tell. Artists so far include:
Bella Gaffney - the 2016 Celtic Connections Danny Kyle Award winner, hails from Bradford. She writes folk inspired songs which she performs along with her own original arrangements of traditional pieces. In 2018 she was one of the first recipients of a Friends Of Towersey Festival Award for music developmental support and opportunities.
“Great singer, great guitarist, really interesting songwriter” Mike Harding, |
Anthony John Clarke - Not only has he written four of the most popular songs on the folk scene – ‘The Only Life Gloria Knows’, ‘The Broken Years’, ‘Walking On Sunday’ and the immortal ‘Tuesday Night is Always Karaoke’, but he remains in essence the reason that folk clubs and festivals continue to thrive!
He is hilarious, serious, compassionate, irreverent, brave, challenging, and a proper guitarist with an instantly recognisable voice who, despite numerous attempts by Darth Vader to lure him to the dark side, remains one of the best and most engaging performers in the country. AJC is a National Treasure' (Fairport Convention) |
Steve Bonham storyteller, author, inveterate traveler, award winning psychologist for decades a songwriter and musician, The Vagabond Philosopher appears with his compadres in The Long Road - Kev Moore, Chris Lydon and John Humphreys. Expect a swampy brew of styles mixed from both sides of the ocean, characterised by sharp lyrics, great melodies and the fab sound of acoustic instruments being played with passion and purpose. It’s a kind of music that appeals to the outlaw in us all.
“Like the minstrels and versifiers of societies now long gone, he (Steve Bonham) and the Long Road are continuing the tradition of making provocatively styled folk music for a world incapable of expressing its most powerful emotions" |
Rob McHale is a North Carolina-based Folk-Americana artist and storyteller whose songs can take you through a small town, down a dirt road or on an historical journey – and bring you back home again. He has received recognition and awards from American Songwriter Magazine, Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, Dallas Songwriters Association, and Billboard
"Music of a hundred years ago, from yesterday or today - whenever you place them, the songs of Rob McHale should be taught in school, because they reflect vibrant history, the value of tradition and living social comment” |
We are so pleased to announce that Paul Bunting will appearing at The Festival of The Artisan. Paul is a wonderful, wonderful songwriter who makes precious few live appearances so this will be rare chance to see one of the most individual and distinctive artists around. Quirky, passionate, original, moving, funny Paul is all of these but above all his work is deeply and profoundly human.
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Festival of the Artisan 2018
21 - 23 June 2018 - the first festival!
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The first Festival of the Artisan will be held in the beautiful market town of Ashbourne, on the edge of the Derbyshire Peak District, over the summer solstice of 2018. Raising a glass to all things handmade, it will be a three-day celebration of craftsmanship and creativity in music, food, drink and all things artisanal.
The venue will be St Oswald’s Church in Ashbourne. The church was consecrated on 24 April 1241 and is itself a tribute to the many artisans who have been involved in its construction, development and restoration over the subsequent eight centuries. It is a Grade 1 listed building, and its imposing tower and spire, at 212ft, dominate the town.
The music event will showcase acoustic performers from Britain, Ireland, Spain and America as well as local bands. They will perform in the cruciform-shaped church with its exquisite acoustics and magnificent stained glass windows.
The venue will be St Oswald’s Church in Ashbourne. The church was consecrated on 24 April 1241 and is itself a tribute to the many artisans who have been involved in its construction, development and restoration over the subsequent eight centuries. It is a Grade 1 listed building, and its imposing tower and spire, at 212ft, dominate the town.
The music event will showcase acoustic performers from Britain, Ireland, Spain and America as well as local bands. They will perform in the cruciform-shaped church with its exquisite acoustics and magnificent stained glass windows.
Blair Dunlop
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Sammy Carter
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Blás
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What is Festival of the Artisan 2018 all about?
At the Festival, you will have the opportunity to listen to great music; to sample craft beers and gins; to taste local delicacies; and to admire the output of artisans working in various mediums. What do all these things have in common?
They are all made by hand; they are the result of craftsmanship; and they demonstrate passion and inspiration. In an increasingly ersatz world of mass production and computer-generated imagery, there still exists among true artisans the desire and impetus to take the Earth’s truculent materials and imagine in them something worthy. These men and women use skills that are as old as we are to produce things that we can touch, taste, hear, smell and see. Ultimately they remind us what it is to be human: perhaps there is Artisan in all of us.
Whoever said anything was 10 or even 1% inspiration and 90 or even 99 % perspiration was just plain wrong. Perspiration stinks of sweat and not much else. No the 90% is wisdom, dexterity, experience, intimacy, learning, awareness, touch, feel passion, excitement and connectedness. That is what makes it Artisan, And often somewhere in there a soul, a spirit or a shaman is involved.
At the Festival, you will have the opportunity to listen to great music; to sample craft beers and gins; to taste local delicacies; and to admire the output of artisans working in various mediums. What do all these things have in common?
They are all made by hand; they are the result of craftsmanship; and they demonstrate passion and inspiration. In an increasingly ersatz world of mass production and computer-generated imagery, there still exists among true artisans the desire and impetus to take the Earth’s truculent materials and imagine in them something worthy. These men and women use skills that are as old as we are to produce things that we can touch, taste, hear, smell and see. Ultimately they remind us what it is to be human: perhaps there is Artisan in all of us.
Whoever said anything was 10 or even 1% inspiration and 90 or even 99 % perspiration was just plain wrong. Perspiration stinks of sweat and not much else. No the 90% is wisdom, dexterity, experience, intimacy, learning, awareness, touch, feel passion, excitement and connectedness. That is what makes it Artisan, And often somewhere in there a soul, a spirit or a shaman is involved.
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