Kate Rusby
The wonderful Kate Rusby, Mercury Prize Winner & 6-times BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winner, will be appearing on Sunday 3rd August 2025. Forever proud to call herself a folk singer, Kate Rusby’s vocals never fail to connect the heart of a song to that of her audience.
As early as 1999, aged just 26, Kate was named as one of the Top Ten Folk Voices of the Century. Everything she has done since has confirmed that honour. From being a 1999 Mercury Prize Winner – almost unheard of for a folk singer both then and now – to her latest albums ‘Light Years’, ’30 Happy Returns’ and ‘Hand Me Done’ Kate has stayed true to her folk and acoustic roots.
Named as one of the Top Ten Folk Voices of the Century, a Mercury Prize Winner, 6-times BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Winner and a warm, Yorkshire sense of humour to boot, Rusby has achieved an unprecedented cross-over appeal. Despite stepping into a more contemporary production on her last few albums, she has stayed true to her roots. Her cover of Manic Monday (Hand Me Down 2020) featured on the BBC Radio 2 playlist. The guests on 2022 album 30 : Happy Returns is testament to Rusby’s wide appeal and include the likes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, KT Tunstall, and Beth Nielson Chapman.
Kate’s Yorkshire roots contribute to her wonderful and warm sense of humour whilst also providing the rich vein of South Yorkshire carols which together, with the passion she has for Christmas, adds the magic to her annual and hugely popular Christmas tour hailed as ‘The Start of Christmas’ for many people.