One of the finest Scottish Gaelic vocalists of his generation, Norrie MacIver, will be bringing his new Trio to Wickham.
From 2016 to 2025 Norrie was the lead singer of Skipinnish and enjoyed headlining festivals and shows with the band all over the UK and Europe. 2024 saw the band play their biggest show at Edinburgh Castle to over 8 thousand fans and and in 2025 Skipinnish played the Ovo Hydro in Glasgow. This turned out to be Norrie’s final gig with the band after being let go a few months later as the band, Angus an Andrew, decided to go into 2026 without Norrie and change things around for Skipinnish.
2026 will see the release of a new album for Norrie and his first UK solo tour in March with festival appearances throughout the year!
“The Gaelic cross-over voice of his generation. Norrie is a singer of range, clarity and melody, and although firmly rooted in Gaelic tradition, he has a voice completely at ease with a backbeat, effortlessly exploring rhythm and modern idioms.” Calum MacDonald, Runrig
The electrifying sound of Birmingham’s fiery, (un)traditional folk band Bonfire Radicals is both intensely creative and irresistibly fun. Their live set is a frenzy of energy – “dynamic and high octane” (Fatea Magazine) – and captures the adventurous breadth of their musical imaginations which emerge from a melting pot of original and traditional tunes from the British Isles to the Balkans.
Their recently released album, ‘The Space Between’, was met with great acclaim and went straight into the UK Folk Charts at #13.
The band features a front line of recorders, fiddle, clarinet, and vocals set alongside a punchy rhythm section of electric guitar, bass, and drums. French melodies decorate African groves, delicate English folk song is underscored by Heavy Metal, Klezmer moves through moments of Art Rock, Brazilian drumming accompanies snapping Scottish Strathspeys.
Amy’s Original band led by her long-term Musical Director/bass player and close friend Dale Davis, celebrate her era defining global music and live performances, keeping her spirit and legacy and the Amy Winehouse sound alive in a true connection only possible by Amy’s original band.
Fronted by an incredible female singer chosen by Dale Davis, the show features on-screen visuals and unique footage (at equipped venues) and has become an unforgettable experience and celebration for audiences young & old alike with sell out shows, tours & festival stages, worldwide including South America, Paris, Helsinki, Athens, London, Jakarta.
Amy Winehouse continues to touch millions worldwide with every new generation connecting deeply with her music. She is arguably the greatest female voice to have ever come out of the UK, a national & international treasure and for so many, simply the greatest artist of her generation. Amy is missed by everyone who loved her and her music.
Bringing you all of Amy’s hits and masterpieces from the multi award winning albums, Back To Black, Frank and Lioness …..‘Rehab’ ‘Valerie’ ‘Back To Black’ ‘Love Is A losing Game’ ‘Tears Dry On Their Own’ ‘I’m No Good’ and many more.
Dale Davis – Amy’s MD/bass player and close friend.“Amy was amazing. She had such a big heart andgave everything to her music and the people she loved. Hers is such an important musical legacy and with this show we aim to keep it alive throughout the world”.
Hawi Gondwe – Guitar. “She was inspired by the best jazz and soul music and through that developed a compelling style of her own, our show lets us celebrate and continue Amy’s hugely important place in musical history.”
Nathen Allen – Drums. “ Performing and recording with Amy was simply as good as it gets.”
Henry Collins – Trumpet.“Amy was a beautiful person inside and out and a musical inspiration to us all.”
Ade Omotayo –BV’s & front man. “Amy was truly magical., In my life she was like an angel.”
What people say
…Amy’s original band are keeping her flame burning brightly NME April 2024
‘‘That was incredible, insane, amazing’’ Live TV Performance Holly Willoughby ‘This Morning’ ITV1 UK
…the band are keeping Amy’s songs and spirit alive The Times
‘Truly an honour to hear this amazing band once again. I shut my eyes and I was listening to Amy’ Waterfront Norwich
‘Whilst Amy might not be around anymore, her spirit absolutely lives on with her band’ Chris Proctor, Head of Programme – Birmingham Symphony Hall / B:Music Ltd
Belinda O’Hooley is an exceptionally gifted pianist, singer, songwriter and composer and has become renowned for her highly individual, emotional, yet sensitive musicality.
She is half of four time BBC Radio 2 Folk Award ‘Best Duo’ nominees O’Hooley & Tidow, alongside her wife Heidi Tidow, together described by The Guardian as ‘exceptional songwriters’.
Inversionsshowcases Belinda’s abilities as a composer and pianist with many of the piano pieces inspired by the songs and tunes her father inherited from a long line of male musicians in the hills of the West coast of rural Ireland. With the passing of her father in 2017, Belinda – the first woman to be handed the tradition – has found the freedom to express the music of her ancestors in her very own, unconventional way, evolving and migrating into something you could describe as an inversion: a reversal of the norm.
Gently nurtured, produced and recorded by Heidi Tidow at MOMA Wales, the mountains, valleys and landscapes of Snowdonia also provide the backdrop to a trio of compositions; each celebrating a deep love of the nature and wildlife of this breathtaking part of Wales.
Inversions encapsulates the essence of an artist truly at one with her instrument.
True Foxes, an acclaimed Folk/Americana cousin duo, will make their Wickham Festival debut on Friday 31st July 2026. They are quickly gaining popularity in the South West and beyond. Amie’s powerful vocals and soulful songwriting has been compared to the likes of Laura Marling and Brandi Carlile, performing on Acoustic Guitar. Together with Chloe’s ethereal harmonies and melodic bass lines, the duo’s storytelling and sisterly banter take the audience on an emotional journey. If you’re a fan of First Aid Kit and The Secret Sisters but with a touch of British influence, you’ll definitely enjoy True Foxes.
Having performed over 800 shows (and counting) since forming in 2019, and following the release of their debut album ‘Howl’ in March 2024, the duo have been featured on numerous international radio stations, being named as Americana Album of the Month on The Country Mile Radio and UK Country Radio and have received glowing reviews from AmericanaUK, Rocking Magpie, and Fatea magazine, with a Nomination for UK Duo of the year 2024 from BCMA.
Travelling in their little white van, the duo has taken their music from the South West to major cities across England, Scotland, and Wales. They have graced the main stages at major UK festivals, sold out shows, completed multiple debut headline tours, and shared the stage with renowned folk bands and acts such as Sound of the Sirens, Steve Knightley, Flats and Sharps, Daisy Chute, Willie and the Bandits, The Magpies, Alex Hart, Mark Radcliffe, David Boardman and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
Their performances have received rave reviews from prestigious venues like the Liverpool Philharmonic, The Royal Glasgow Concert Hall, and The Water Rats in London. After the success of their debut album ‘Howl’ last year, True Foxes have begun working on their second album, ‘Just a Woman’ due to be released March 26th 2026 with a UK tour just announced.
2026 and beyond is shaping up to be a very exciting new chapter for True Foxes, who are definitely the ones to watch.
Steve Knightley is stepping into an exciting new chapter, unveiling his brand-new four-piece “The Winter Yards Band” to audiences on an extensive UK tour for summer festivals in 2026. Following the success of his Winter Yards solo shows, Steve now shares the stage with three outstanding musicians—guitar virtuoso David Delarre, master percussionist Evan Carson, and double bass maestro John Parker. Together, this powerhouse ensemble brings a fresh, dynamic energy to Steve’s much-loved Winter Yards album, offering audiences a richly textured live experience, pushing the sound further beyond traditional boundaries.
Don’t miss the chance to see one of folk music’s most revered figures at the top of his game, in collaboration with some of the finest touring musicians in the country.
Penguin Cafe was founded by Arthur Jeffes in 2009, bringing together a talented and disparate group of musicians initially to perform his father Simon Jeffes’ legacy of world-renowned PCO music, ten years after his untimely death in 1997. Arthur, a talented composer in his own right, quickly began to create new and unique genre-defying music, blending classical instruments like violins and cellos with unexpected elements like ukuleles and melodicas, the spellbinding philosophy of the Penguin Cafe always in his mind. Penguin Cafe have released five studio albums of original music, four of which are released on Erased Tapes Records.
The current show ‘Penguin Cafe performs Music from the Penguin Cafe Orchestra’ pays homage to the original PCO music featuring performances of classic compositions that have been captivating listeners for decades. Audiences can expect to hear beloved works like ‘Music from a Found Harmonium’ and ‘Perpetuum Mobile’ delivered with the ensemble’s signature warmth and inventiveness. This tour not only celebrates the enduring legacy of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra but also showcases the continued evolution of their sound under Arthur Jeffes direction. To commemorate the tour Universal Music has re-released all of the original PCO albums on limited edition Vinyl, and the original iconic PCO album cover paintings by Emily Young are available to own as limited edition art prints for the first time.
Jim Causley is a folk-singer, award winning songwriter, musician, proud Devonian and all-round entertainer. He grew up in a wassailing village not far from Sidmouth Folk Festival and found his voice singing with local choirs. He studied Performing Arts and Jazz & Popular Music at Exeter College where he cut his teeth performing in bands on the Exeter music scene before heading to the University of Newcastle upon Tyne to study on their brand new degree course in Folk & Traditional Music. He rose to prominence singing with The Devil’s Interval and Mawkin:Causley as well as touring with Waterson:Carthy and David Rotheray. In recent years his work has focused on his musical settings of poems by his relative Charles Causley, penning his own songs and reviving lost gems from his home county.
Miranda Sykes started her career as a musician in 1996 at the age of 18, playing bass guitar in a country rock band. After 2 years touring and playing for line dancing in working mens clubs across Britain, folk-rock band Pressgang were looking for a bass player. Miranda spent the next 2 years touring internationally with them. After a few years of musical promiscuity playing with Firebrand, Little Johnny England, Robb Johnson, Bill Jones, Steafan Hannigan, Reg Meuross, Kirsty McGee, The Phil Beer Band, Martyn Joseph and The Scoville Units; Miranda depped for Pete Zorn in the 2004 Show Of Hands festival band line up. She worked with them for the next 20 years. Miranda also found time for a short tour and album with the Miranda Sykes Band in 2005, duo album tours with mandolin player Rex Preston and 2 solo albums. 2024 brings a second tour with Hannah Martin, a new Baring-Gould Centenary project with Jim Causley, summer festivals with vocal group Daphne’s Flight, a tour with The Phil Beer Trio and a new solo album and tour “Out Of The Woods”.
Black Umfolosi performances are inspired by the traditional song and dance of their native southern Africa, with a beauty and enthusiasm that is unrivalled. Their performances are energy driven and completely engaging, mixing a great gentleness of spirit and song with an exuberance in dance. Their trademark harmonies mixed with intricate rhythms, clicking and clapping are highlighted during their brilliantly choreographed shows with a full range of movements from subtle to vibrant stomping and leaping!
Their famous Gumboot Dances showcase the traditional styles and rituals of the South African mining regions and are a particular crowd pleaser.The group formed in 1982 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, naming themselves after the Umfolozi Omnyama River –an area to which their ancestors can be traced to. Arguably Zimbabwe’s greatest ambassadors, the group have toured the UK many times building up a lasting relationship with venues and their fans. They have a natural ability to communicate passion and feeling in their spectacular performances that thrill audiences worldwide.
Originally a session player in many bands, Tommy Emmanuel is an Australian guitarist. He has released many award-winning recordings as a solo artist. More than sixty years into his storied career as one of the modern era’s most accomplished and versatile guitarists, Tommy Emmanuel is still hungry for adventure.
Along with his brother Phil, Emmanuel performed live at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The event was televised to over 2 billion viewers worldwide.
It should come as little surprise that Emmanuel’s extraordinary new album, Living in the Light, is easily the most daring—and most rewarding—collection in the Grammy-winner’s remarkable catalog. Recorded and mixed in just four days with producer Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton, Phish), the album radiates the kind of raw, electrifying energy that can only come from an artist operating in complete and total surrender to the moment. Emmanuel captured most of the performances here in one or two takes, and the sense of joy and wonder in these sonic explorations is more than just palpable; it’s intoxicating. While many of the recordings are solo instrumentals, Emmanuel lends his voice to several of the album’s tracks, as well, grounding his dazzling, percussive fretwork with a poignant dose of warmth and vulnerability. The result is a record as exhilarating as it is intimate, a virtuosic blend of acoustic pop, jazz, classical, and roots music delivered by a master craftsman with a penchant for living on the edge.
Mashing their own brew of pop-punk and folk since 2013, Black Water County continue on their mission to provide merriment and moshing to the masses by relentlessly touring the UK and Europe.
Drawing inspiration from their favourite pop punk bands growing up, such as Green Day, Sum 41 and The Offspring as well as their self-discovered affinity to folk legends such as The Pogues, Flogging Molly and Bellowhead, the fusion of folk melody and instrumentation with driving, high energy drums and guitar have continued to forge the distinctive sound through the years.
Their debut album ‘Taking Chances’ was released in 2017, with the sophomore album ‘Comedies and Tragedies’ being released three years later during the first lockdown of 2020. Lastly, newest release ‘The Only Life Worth Living’ came out to the masses in 2023 boasting four singles, including one featuring guest vocalist Hannah Greenwood of Creeper. All three releases were released independently and were produced and mixed by Lewis Johns of The Ranch Studio UK.
To date the band’s UK festival appearances include Cropredy, WOMAD, Boomtown, Beautiful Days, Belladrum, Black Deer, Camp Bestival along with hundreds of smaller UK festivals and beyond, venturing into Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Czech Republic and France.
In both 2016 and 2018, Black Water County won their place on Fireball’s ‘Fuelling the Fire Tour’ supporting Less Than Jake, Flogging Molly, The Bronx and The Skints. They subsequently featured in Kerrang!’s online coverage of the tour, received an endorsement from Fireball UK and also appeared on BBC radio stations with the single ‘Rise and Fall’.
From Glasgow & the Isle of Man, high-energy, celtic fusion band MEC LIR will make their Wickham Festival debut on Friday 31st July, 2026. Right from the launch at their debut gig at one of the largest Celtic music festivals anywhere in the world – Brittany’s famed Festival Interceltique de Lorient – the exhilarating, genre-busting Mec Lir have been frenzying festival audiences for over a decade, with 2026 being their 12th anniversary!
Mec Lir’s live shows are the stuff of legend – and not to be missed!
Well-known for their tight, lightning-fast playing and huge sound, fusing Celtic trad with unapologetically electro synths and drums – yet all the while with the fiddle melody at the forefront – the Isle of Man/Glasgow band have brought their infectiously joyous energy to stages in many corners of the folk sphere; from Cape Breton’s Celtic Colours to the Shetland Folk Festival, Denmark’s Tønder Festival to Schots Weekend (Belgium), England’s Cambridge Folk Festival, and sell-out, rapturous appearances at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections.
Fronted by virtuoso Manx fiddle player Tomas Callister (Ímar), along with fellow Manx musicians Adam Rhodes on bouzouki (Ímar) and David Kilgallon on keyboard (Neear Nesañ), joined by Glasgow’s own Paddy Callaghan on button accordion (BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2013) and expertly grounded by Scotland’s Greg Barry on drums (Elephant Sessions), the group’s second album, Livewire, met critical acclaim upon its 2020 release, and topped the iTunes World Music charts – a feverishly- anticipated follow-up to their groundbreaking debut, Not An EP (2014).
“Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.” Bruce MacGregor, BBC Radio Scotland
“The energy these guys created with their mix of electric guitar, synthesizer, fiddles, drums and button accordion was different level” The Irish Voice
“perhaps the most energetic album you’ll hear this year” RnR Magazine
John Jones is best known as the powerful and charismatic singer with Oysterband, veterans of the folk and roots scene since the 1980s. They started as TheWhitstableOyster Company Ceilidh Band, one of the best ceilidh bands in the business, which then evolved into the folk/punk/rock group Oysterband, releasing over 20 albums and playing every major festival in the UK, Europe and Canada. They recorded and toured with some of the UK’s most revered folk artists, including acclaimed tours and two award-winning albums with singer June Tabor.
John’s solo work developed alongside his Oysterband duties. In 2009, he released his first solo album, Rising Road, and began walking between gigs with musicians and fans in a group he called The Reluctant Ramblers. In ten years, the Reluctant Ramblers walked over 1000 miles between shows and John released his second album, Never Stop Moving, in 2015.
Now, with Oysterband saying farewell to their armies of faithful fans across the UK and Europe with their hugely successful The Long Goodbye tour, John is about to embark on his next chapter, enlisting the help of his two long-standing friends and fellow musicians: Ray Cooper a.k.a. Chopper and Al Scott. Ray joined Oysterband in 1990 and brought in the cello sound alongside his bass and backing vocals before leaving in 2013 to go solo. Al has been associated with Oysterband for over 30 years as producer and stand-in guitarist. Al joined the band in 2013.
Between them, the trio play a variety of instruments and will be performing a range of songs and tunes from over the years, from each of their back catalogues, alongside new songs and traditional numbers.
The Song Goes On Tour launches across the UK in Spring 2026, with further dates planned at summer festivals and in winter 2026, and with European shows in the pipeline as well. So whilst one chapter may be coming to an end, another is just beginning: The Song Goes On!
Rob Clamp & The Ashmen will be back at Wickham on Saturday 1st August following their successful debut last year. It’s not often you come across a voice with such controlled power: even at the emotional heights and depths of the songs, Rob’s voice retains a purity and focus that is all too rare. Wherever his song-writing leads him, his voice adapts to the genre, from pop through folk and roots. A classic voice for classic music.’ Rob has been featured on BBC introducing, has won the highly regarded ‘Purbeck Rising 2022’ imprinting himself onto the UK folk scene, and won the ‘Sofia International Singer Songwriter Festival 2022’ in Bulgaria. Rob’s music is filled with real life experiences, performed in his own compelling storytelling style, with acoustic guitar accompanied by a variation of foot percussion.
The Ashmen are all multi-instrumentalists, banjo and drums, electric and double bass, keyboard and mandolin, violin and harmonica, while Rob plays acoustic and foot percussion. With such a line-up, their sound sits comfortably across folk-rock and americana – reflecting Rob’s British and American influences.
Really nice article about #wickhamfestival here. It captures the essence of what we are about, focusing on the unique laid-back atmosphere. Definitely worth checking this out
https://musicscenemagazine.co.uk/wickham-festival-2026/
Check out our interview with Ken Bonsall of Ferocious Dog ahead of their final appearance at #wickhamfestival
https://www.wickhamfestival.co.uk/ferocious-dog-straining-at-the-leash-for-the-wickham-festival/
Get in the mood for Wickham Festival 2026 and listen to interview from highlights from last year’s festival. The first of two special editions of the podcast is available now!
Day & Weekend Tickets on-sale via http://www.wickhamfestival.co.uk Save £40 on 4-day weekend tickets if you book before midnight Monday. Chance to see @sawdoctors @The_Proclaimers @Dholfoundation Curtis Stigers. John Jones Trio and many more
Newly confirmed: Our Friday night headliners on Main Stage 2. By popular request we present Gaz Brookfield & The Company of Thieves. https://gazbrookfield.com/
The Dhol Foundation will headline Friday with their first full band set at Wickham since 2022 & will also perform a late night DJ Set after The Saw Doctors on Saturday & host a Bhangra Dance Workshop on Saturday morning. Day & Weekend tickets now onsale http://www.wickhamfestival.co.uk/tickets
