Beardy Folk Festival
Venue: Hopton Court
Town: Hopton Wafers
Date: 12-15th June 2025
Website: https://www.beardyfolkfestival.co.uk/
The eighth Beardy Folk Festival, and my seventh, continues to go from strength to strength. This year's event, as previously, was based in the walled garden of the rather splendid Hopton Court. The walled garden is perfect for a festival of this size, with the gentle slope separating the two stages with the main stage at the bottom having unrestricted views even when the mosh pit forms. The smart visitors position their chairs half way between so they only have to turn them around for the acoustic stage at the top. An innovation to that, brought in last year, was to put it under cover for both rain and shine and, as usual, we had both. Between the main stage is the bar, wonderfully run as always, where a queue naturally forms so there's no scrabbling for a drink and the beer cards were as popular as ever. Around the acoustic stage are the food stalls, always high quality and with something for everyone. It was good to see the favourites returning and well used. Part of the joy of a festival is that it isn't just a gig but a whole experience and the food's a big part of that.
Outside the garden are the stalls selling a range of clothing and mementos, and this year the all essential food stand with camping basics. Another innovation, thanks to Dan The Hat, was that the Open Mic stage was covered. That helped bring people in and it was noticeable that the slots are filling earlier and quicker as it becomes a feature. Curated by FATEA, and with Bob running it, all the performers were a good standard but this year was memorable for two first ever public appearances. Most important was Kaelyn, only 14 and with the music on her phone. It was that vital first step because people like her are the future. She was warmly greeted and supported by the audience and it's that friendly, welcoming atmosphere that marks the festival out. You can sit anywhere and somebody will strike up a conversation.
Outside the main grounds there are workshops, yoga, children's entertainment, comedy, foraging trips and ecoprinting. There's a whole range of activity for everyone, or you can just sit back and enjoy the music which also has something for everyone. With three full days and an evening of back-to-back acts it's impossible to list everyone and my highlights probably won't be the same as anyone else's. However, given the location it was very good to see a number of Welsh acts on both stages. Milly Mason may only be 17 but she dominated the stage with a performance of huge confidence and her own songs. Blino travelled up from Cardiff and his thoughtful songs and voice attracted a lot of attention. Piskey Led opened the main stage on Thursday and got us in the party mood whilst Taff Rapids were close harmony bluegrass with a lot of style.
Throughout the weekend there were the favourites. Polly Morris once again put the audience's emotions through the wringer with song covering all aspects of life, from the ridiculous to heartbreaking and everyone marvelled at her ability to get a loop station so wrong. Several people made comparisons to Victor Borge or Les Dawson; you need to be an expert to do it badly that well.
Skinny Lister ripped up the stage with a performance of such high energy I was impressed they could still stand, let alone sing and play. The main stage isn't suitable for crowd surfing, but they tried! It was a knock out set and the perfect ending to Saturday night. Part of the ethos of the festival is to look after the performers so Three Daft Monkeys were invited back, their set being rained off after just three songs last year. Whilst watching we did have one eye on the sky just in case they'd discovered a rain dance that works.
Several face appeared a couple of times. Eleanor Dunsdon wowed with Gregor Black as always, the harp and percussion duo giving such a different sound. Eliza Marshall has a beautiful solo project then they both went on to play with Ranagri.
I enjoy seeing bands pushing the envelope, so have no issues at all with electronics and fusion. An Dannsa Dub mix traditional Scottish and Gaelic music with digital dub to great effect and show that music doesn't have boundaries. Unfortunately Josie Duncan couldn't come with them due to illness, but her vocals were recorded so could be brought in. Perhaps it's an act not to everybody's taste but I was impressed.
Festivals need the big party names and we had a rich choice. Skinny Lister have already been mentioned but there were others. Green Man Rising chose to play the smaller acoustic stage which worked well in concentrating the audience who joined in with the shanties and choruses with gusto. Steve Bentley also held a very well attended bodhran session earlier in the day.
I could go on but every act hit the spot. This is a festival where musical quality is only matched by the superb organisation. Beardy Dave and his team work so hard and diligently to make sure everything runs with clockwork precision, and throughout the weekend I didn't hear one single criticism about anything. Those festival markers like toilets and showers all went off without a hitch, the site was well prepared and the sound quality was of the highest order. It was encouraging to see how many people were there for the first time, showing the festival's reputation is growing year on year. Of course, not everyone will be back every year in what is becoming an increasingly competitive market, but the Beardy Folk Festival is well placed to go forward. Summing up how much regard people have for Beardy were the couple from the USA who came last year and made a special trip back this year to work as volunteers. Get this one in the diary for 2026.
Tony Birch - Words & Pics
Additional pictures from the festival can be found here
Beardy Folk FestivalThe eighth Beardy Folk Festival, and my seventh, continues to go from strength to strength. This year's event, as previously, was based in the walled garden of the rather splendid Hopton Court. The walled garden is perfect for a festival of this size, with the gentle slope separating the two stages with the main stage at the bottom having unrestricted views even when the mosh pit forms. The smart visitors position their chairs half way between so they only have to turn them around for the acoustic stage at the top. An innovation to that, brought in last year, was to put it under cover for both rain and shine and, as usual, we had both. Between the main stage is the bar, wonderfully run as always, where a queue naturally forms so there's no scrabbling for a drink and the beer cards were as popular as ever. Around the acoustic stage are the food stalls, always high quality and with something for everyone. It was good to see the favourites returning and well used. Part of the joy of a festival is that it isn't just a gig but a whole experience and the food's a big part of that.
Outside the garden are the stalls selling a range of clothing and mementos, and this year the all essential food stand with camping basics. Another innovation, thanks to Dan The Hat, was that the Open Mic stage was covered. That helped bring people in and it was noticeable that the slots are filling earlier and quicker as it becomes a feature. Curated by FATEA, and with Bob running it, all the performers were a good standard but this year was memorable for two first ever public appearances. Most important was Kaelyn, only 14 and with the music on her phone. It was that vital first step because people like her are the future. She was warmly greeted and supported by the audience and it's that friendly, welcoming atmosphere that marks the festival out. You can sit anywhere and somebody will strike up a conversation.
Outside the main grounds there are workshops, yoga, children's entertainment, comedy, foraging trips and ecoprinting. There's a whole range of activity for everyone, or you can just sit back and enjoy the music which also has something for everyone. With three full days and an evening of back-to-back acts it's impossible to list everyone and my highlights probably won't be the same as anyone else's. However, given the location it was very good to see a number of Welsh acts on both stages. Milly Mason may only be 17 but she dominated the stage with a performance of huge confidence and her own songs. Blino travelled up from Cardiff and his thoughtful songs and voice attracted a lot of attention. Piskey Led opened the main stage on Thursday and got us in the party mood whilst Taff Rapids were close harmony bluegrass with a lot of style.
Throughout the weekend there were the favourites. Polly Morris once again put the audience's emotions through the wringer with song covering all aspects of life, from the ridiculous to heartbreaking and everyone marvelled at her ability to get a loop station so wrong. Several people made comparisons to Victor Borge or Les Dawson; you need to be an expert to do it badly that well.
Skinny Lister ripped up the stage with a performance of such high energy I was impressed they could still stand, let alone sing and play. The main stage isn't suitable for crowd surfing, but they tried! It was a knock out set and the perfect ending to Saturday night. Part of the ethos of the festival is to look after the performers so Three Daft Monkeys were invited back, their set being rained off after just three songs last year. Whilst watching we did have one eye on the sky just in case they'd discovered a rain dance that works.
Several face appeared a couple of times. Eleanor Dunsdon wowed with Gregor Black as always, the harp and percussion duo giving such a different sound. Eliza Marshall has a beautiful solo project then they both went on to play with Ranagri.
I enjoy seeing bands pushing the envelope, so have no issues at all with electronics and fusion. An Dannsa Dub mix traditional Scottish and Gaelic music with digital dub to great effect and show that music doesn't have boundaries. Unfortunately Josie Duncan couldn't come with them due to illness, but her vocals were recorded so could be brought in. Perhaps it's an act not to everybody's taste but I was impressed.
Festivals need the big party names and we had a rich choice. Skinny Lister have already been mentioned but there were others. Green Man Rising chose to play the smaller acoustic stage which worked well in concentrating the audience who joined in with the shanties and choruses with gusto. Steve Bentley also held a very well attended bodhran session earlier in the day.
I could go on but every act hit the spot. This is a festival where musical quality is only matched by the superb organisation. Beardy Dave and his team work so hard and diligently to make sure everything runs with clockwork precision, and throughout the weekend I didn't hear one single criticism about anything. Those festival markers like toilets and showers all went off without a hitch, the site was well prepared and the sound quality was of the highest order. It was encouraging to see how many people were there for the first time, showing the festival's reputation is growing year on year. Of course, not everyone will be back every year in what is becoming an increasingly competitive market, but the Beardy Folk Festival is well placed to go forward. Summing up how much regard people have for Beardy were the couple from the USA who came last year and made a special trip back this year to work as volunteers. Get this one in the diary for 2026.
Tony Birch - Words & Pics
Additional pictures from the festival can be found here
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