Rothbury Traditional Music Festival returns for a weekend of celebrations

For four decades, the small community-run festival has celebrated Northumbrian tradition with artists from across the country sharing their music. As well as music, the event will also include dance, poetry and competitions for both adults and children.

Costs of the festival have increased this year, so their website asks if people could consider buying a £4 printed souvenir programme to help keep it running for the community.

A spokesperson for the festival said: “We are very happy that the additional costs this year are largely due to expansion of the festival.

"We came back strongly after the pandemic last year with two experimental initiatives. The children's concert on Friday afternoon and the Sunday afternoon concert were both introduced on a small scale with the help of friends of the festival.

"This year we have engaged Music Partnership North to help us put on the children's concert and we have been able to invest more in it. It is so important for the keeping the tradition going to start the children young and keep them engaged, especially after the pandemic when so much music was shut down.

In recent years they have welcomed talent from overseas, including some Scandinavian friends, who now have a dedicated concert for their region.

"We had the opportunity of welcoming Scandinavian friends of committee members so we thought we should build on last years Sunday concert."

The festival will run from July 14-16, for more information on the competitions and booking tickets, visit their website, here.