Miranda Sykes, the acclaimed singer and bassist with ‘Show of Hands’ is returning to her roots. After a career spanning over 20 years, during which time she has played with many of the top musicians and singers within the folk world, she will be touring as she started out: one woman, one bass, and one guitar. Borrowed Places is a project that draws its inspiration primarily from the songs and landscapes of her native Lincolnshire but seen through the eyes of someone who has lived away for many years. The themes are not specific; the land changes, it grows, it shrinks, it adapts and it resists but most of all it lives and breathes. With her sensational voice, and accompanying herself, Miranda interprets the soul of the land and takes her audience on a journey that resonates with us all, wherever we live and it is one you won’t want to miss.

Chart-topping singer-songwriter Lucy Spraggan will make her Wickham Festival debut on Friday 1st August. Lucy’s unique blend of folk, indie-pop and acoustic sounds paired with powerful and emotive lyrics have captivated audiences worldwide. She recently released new single Other Sides Of The Moon with a new studio album scheduled for later in 2025.

The album will feature brand-new songs, plus some of her favourite tracks of the last 15 years, reworked, providing fans with a perfect mix of old and new Lucy.

She released a striking duet version of her song Sober, on which she collaborated with pop icon and superstar Robbie Williams. The track is about Lucy’s journey on giving up alcohol and stepping into the world of sobriety. At 5 years sober she chose to re-release it with one of her biggest inspirations.

Lucy Spraggan started her journey as an artist when she was very young. In 2012, she entered the X Factor and went onto be the first contestant in history to score a Top 40 single and album before the live shows aired.

She has sold over 150k albums and reached over 150 million streams on Spotify alone. She released her memoir Process last year which was an instant Sunday Times bestseller.

Process: The powerful instant Sunday Times bestseller

A memoir of great power and emotional honesty. To read this book is to be in awe of Spraggan’s strength in writing it.
Elizabeth Day

Lucy’s music has been used many times in popular culture, perhaps most notably her track Why Don’t We Start From Here was used as the soundtrack for the closing scene for Series 3 of the Outlaws.

Lucy has announced an intimate acoustic tour in venues around the UK in March and April 2025 before playing festivals in the Summer, one of which is of course Wickham Festival!  We look forward to welcoming her to our stage.

Newton Faulkner is continually adjusting to a music landscape dominated by flux, he’s moved from the phenomenal success of his debut album ‘Hand Built By Robots’ to the surging triumph of ‘Write It On Your Skin’; from ‘Studio Zoo’ – which was the first album ever to be live streamed online while being recorded, and was also recorded and released in just five weeks – to the sumptuous ‘Human Love’ plus multiple other records over his incredible 15 year career so far. He’s now taking this moment to record his next collection of songs. This time a little more production heavy but still full of powerful vocals and his signature guitar sound weaved through the mix. Newton in the past has often found himself in his home studio working away solo, but not for this next record or in fact this tour. The next phase for Newton is full of collaboration which you can feel in the music to come. Seeing these songs come to life on stage is going to be nothing short of joyous.

We’re delighted to announce that the ever-popular singer-songwriter Steve Knightley of Show of Hands fame will be back at Wickham on Friday 1st August. Steve’s former band-mate, Phil Beer, will also be at Wickham on the Sunday performing a solo set as well as joining Reg Meuross to perform ‘Fire and Dust – A Woody Guthrie Story’.  Whilst we mention SOH, their bassist Miranda Sykes is also at Wickham this year!  All the SOH members have become real crowd favourites at Wickham performing many times in various set ups. So this year looks great for any SOH fan.

Steve was born in Southhampton so can be considered a local! Here he is performing Song for Wickham at Wickham Festival 2022.

Steve Knightley performed his Song For Wickham with a community choir. Commissioned by the Parish Council, the idea for a song for Wickham arose as the village was looking towards a new decade with changes ahead, 2020 also marked the 900th anniversary of St Nicholas Church.

Renowned Westcountry songwriter Steve Knightley announces a ground-breaking nationwide solo tour—the first since the iconic band disbanded. Focused on promoting his latest album, ‘The Winter Yards,’ this tour signifies a profound shift in Knightley’s musical journey. Booked by Midnight Mango, the move is a calculated step for the seasoned artist. The agency stated “We are proud to be involved in the launch of the fresh chapter in the remarkable career of legendary songwriter Steve Knightley.” Notably, the tour includes Knightley’s inaugural performances in Scotland and Ireland, expanding the geographical reach of his musical influence. With a reputation for haunting narrative songs and captivating storytelling, fans can anticipate Knightley’s solo career as a powerful and evocative continuation of his influential legacy in Acoustic music.

Booked for one track ended up on five!
Mick Jagger

Some of the best songs written in the last twenty years.
Mark Radcliffe

The Winter Yards turns the page on the remarkable career of a ground-breaking singer, songwriter and musician who has invigorated the folk roots world for three decades.
Spiral Earth

Having appeared at Wickham in 2018, we’re delighted to welcome back Flook who will be appearing on Friday 1st August.

What began in 1995 as a ground-breaking union of musicians and instruments, has continued as a unique musical offering through one live album, four studio albums and countless outstanding performances. A new recording, Sanju, is due for release in March 2025. After 30 years Flook show no sign of letting-up in their brilliance, their dynamism, or their inventive flair.

The band early on evolved an inimitable trademark sound and hold fast to their rightful reputation as exceptional musical innovators; the whistles and flutes of Brian Finnegan and Sarah Allen, the guitar of Ed Boyd and the bodhran of John Joe Kelly weaving and spinning tunes rooted in tradition over precise acoustic grooves, with a rare blend of fiery technical brilliance, delicate ensemble interaction and a bold, adventurous musical imagination.

There is an ever present abundance of individual virtuosity amongst Flook’s four members, but there is also something wholly unique when this iconic Anglo-Irish band step on stage together, their playing always an intuitive, almost symbiotic, exchange between the various flutes, whistles, frets and skins. An evening and a celebration you don’t want to miss out on.

‘An absolute powerhouse, a flute and whistle-led, eight-legged jig machine. Jigs, reels and waltzes whirl by. Each as glorious as the last, the musicianship as extraordinary, the mood never any less than euphoric’
FATEA Live Review, November 2023

‘Nothing short of transcendent… No other band sound like Flook and the new material has pushed them to new, exhilarating heights’
Songlines, July 2019

‘Never have I seen so many people so completely and utterly spellbound…the most magical of experiences’
The Irish Post

Fisherman’s Friends are a male singing group from Port Isaac, Cornwall, who sing sea shanties. They have been performing locally since 1995, and signed a record deal with Universal Music in March 2010. Whilst essentially an a cappella group, their studio recordings now often include traditional simple instrumentation.

Bound together by lifelong friendship and shared experience for more than 25 years the Fisherman’s Friends have met on the Platt (harbour) in their native Port Isaac to raise money for charity, singing the traditional songs of the sea handed down to them by their forefathers.

In 2010 they signed a major record deal and their album “Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends” went Gold as they became the first traditional folk act to land a UK top ten album. Since then they’ve been the subject of an ITV documentary, released the hit albums One and All (2013), Proper Job (2015) & Sole Mates (2018) and played to hundreds of thousands of fans at home and abroad.

They sang for HM The Queen at her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012, they were selected to sing for Prince Charles & Camilla during their 2016 tour of Cornwall and were honoured with the Good Tradition Award at the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2011. 2019 saw the release of ‘Fisherman’s Friends’ a movie based on the group’s discovery and signing to a major record label. The film was an immediate hit, taking nearly 10 million at the box office. And this year sees the release of the second movie ‘Fisherman’s Friends One And All’ this autumn.

Other standout performances include the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival, Twickenham Stadium during half-time of England v Australia (an intimate crowd of 81,275!!), Cambridge Folk Festival, Beautiful Days, Sidmouth Folk Week, Looe Music Festival, Costa del Folk in Portugal and the BBC Proms in the Park.