A host of performers, children’s entertainment, music and markets have been lined up for the return of MayFest to Richmond next month.
Now in its third year, the annual four-day celebration of music, dance and storytelling will run from Friday, May 3 to Monday, May 6.
All events taking place in Richmond Castle are free for residents in DL9, DL10 and DL11 courtesy of English Heritage, and there will be free music and dance around the town, including the MayFest Mini Folk Fest on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in the Town Hall.
Tickets are now on sale for the four ticketed musical events, with a reduction for residents in the above postcode areas. Accompanied under-18s go free.
The festival will get underway on the Friday evening with a retro night at the Town Hall featuring live music from the 50s and 60s with The AB Band. The hall will also host the MayFest Ceilidh with the No Lazy Dancing Dance Band on the Sunday evening, from 7pm. Tickets for each of the dance nights cost £10 for adults and £5 for residents.
Elsewhere, there will be a mix of folk and world sounds with a bit of medieval thrown in with Bisarr in concert at St Agatha’s Church, Easby, at 5pm on the Saturday with support from Emaline Delapaix.
Bisarr are young duo Nicholas Konradsen and James Noble, who play music from the UK, Sweden and the Middle East on a range of instruments. Ticket are £15 or £8 for locals.
Emaline, who hails from Australia but has now made her home in North Yorkshire, performs a mixture of ballads, pop and traditional folk styles from Northern Europe.
Other events include the ever-popular Richmondshire Choral Society's 2024 Spring Concert for MayFest, featuring Feel the Spirit composed by John Rutter and Verdi’s Four Sacred Pieces in St. Mary’s Church. Ticket are £20, or £15 for locals and £5 for students.
Other MayFest performers, professional and amateur, include Circus Skills York, musicians the Ran Tanners, Trouvere, Dante Ferrara, Damian Clarke, the Jolly Wassailers, John Hunter, Ovinos Samba, Sid Bowfin, Newton Aycliffe Pipe Band, story tellers Carmel Page, Jim Grant and Rhoda Fraser, The Silly History Boys, dancers Maypole Movers, Charlotte Jacqueline School of Dance, Rhythm and Shoes dance Academy, clog dancers and morris men.
In Richmond Castle on the Saturday and Sunday, Dawn of Chivalry will bring the 13th Century to life with battling knights, an encampment and an archery show.
Full details of the MayFest weekend, the programme of activities and how to get tickets is available at www.richmondmayfest.org.
Tickets are also available from Richmond Information Centre and King Street Kitchen and Gifts, King Street, Richmond.
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