Jioning artist @lucy_j_wright’s new tradition #Dusking - dancing down the sun at the end of the summer and celebrating the coming of autumn. Staff at Cecil Sharp House run out into the garden in tatter jackets. @maudlinfeedsfairies @morris_tart @iamlibertyrowley

We delighted to be celebrating Diwali at Coventry Charterhouse @ntcoventrycharterhouse with one of our joyful Bhangra Ceilidhs. The National Trust event will open with a lamp-lighting ceremony at 4pm, from which the story will guide you through the walled garden. East Meets West features string and percussion instrumentalists performing a selection of pieces in a concert setting, while also exploring their own creative musical space. Srividya Venkat @svmusic_co_uk is an Indian classical violinist based in Rugby. The Bhangra Ceilidh, led by band leader and composer Kuljit Bhamra MBE @kuljit.bhamra , brings together a dazzling line-up of musicians. The live sounds of tabla and percussion (Kuljit Bhamra), melodeon (Hazel Askew @hazelaskewmusic) and more create a cross-cultural musical experience. Featuring specially composed tunes inspired by both vibrant traditions, the performance is designed to get people up and dancing. Coventry Charterhouse Coventry CV1 Sat 7 Nov 4pm-7pm Free, just turn up on the day. Find out more more from The Nation Trust Coventry Charterhouse @ntcoventrycharterhouse @nationaltrust Images: Bhangra Ceilidh at Greenwich Park - Roswitha Chesher. Charterhouse Coventry's walled garden by Shaun Fellows

Micro Grants £500 for professional folk artists Apply now! Deadline: 1 November Thanks to the continued and generous support of Conrad and Jennifer Bailey we are delighted to announce a seventh year of the Micro Grants Programme for Professional Folk Artists who live and work in England. This year eight grants of £500 each are being offered to folk artists to support anything that will help their professional career development. For example, this could be: Research and development time to for new creative projects Support for the production of new albums Instrument purchase Marketing, PR and/or digital support Technical equipment purchase (eg portable sound equipment) Other personal training and development activities Find out more and apply on our website Deadline for applications is midnight on 1 November Image shows previous Micro Grant recipients @goodhabitsband who received support for rehearsal space.

Coming soon! Folk Education Development Day Wednesday 4 November, 10am-4pm Free In Person: at Entrust Music Service Staffordshire @emsstaffs in Stafford OR Online: via Zoom with Live to your Living Room @livetoyourlr Speakers include: Emmie Ward and Nick Goode (tutors) and Lucy Stiles (EFDSS Education Manager) - Inclusive Folk - EFDSS' creative folk music and dance programme for learning disabled young people, including those with complex needs, which is supported by John Lyon's Charity @johnlyonscharity . They will lead a short practical workshop exploring material from their brand-new, free, online resource - Trad to Tech. Cat McGill @folkycat - Live to your Living Room and a freelance neurodivergent musician, working with music as a tool for connection and communication. She will be hosting our online strand. Cat will also lead a short signing song workshop and introduce her Ticking Clock interactive artwork. Andy Haines and Billy Payne, from Billy and Andy's Music School @billyandy_musicschool will talk about their work with young people with special educational needs and disabilities and how they are smashing musical barriers with joy + tech! He will also lead a short music making workshop. Dan Hollingshurst @danmusicmagic28 folk musician, peripatetic music teacher with Entrust Music Service Staffordshire and Music Centre Manger will talk about the work of the organisation, with a focus on their inclusive music making activities. Rachel Elliott @rachel.lucy.elliott (EFDSS Education Director) will give an update on the national aspects of the EFDSS Education programme and an outline of the National Youth Folk Ensemble @nationalyouthfolk Book your Free place now - link in bio - What's on at The House

One week to go until our conference exploring the current place of folk arts in England in relation to the UK-wide implementation of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Keynote: Simon McKerrell ( @glasgow_caledonian_university ) - Understanding the past in the present: what future for living heritage in a (dis)United Kingdom? Other speakers include: Matthew Cheeseman @einek1eine and Kay Dunn – Beyond ratification: building living heritage infrastructure for folk arts in England Jonathan Karkut and Julie Scott - Inventorying as a Gateway Emma Melville (Joint Morris Organisations) Grace Redpath @graceegrowler - From display to dance: longsword and the museum Hardeep Sahota @bhangra.master – Bhangra as living heritage: archive, transmission and recognition in England Daniel Carpenter @danielcarpenter_ (Heritage Crafts @heritagecrafts ) in conversation with Chloe Middleton-Metcalfe @englishfolkmum Michael Davidson - Intangible Cultural Heritage and Citizenship Panel session with Peter Hewitt @peetahooitt (Scotland), Bláithín Mhic Cana @blaithinmhiccana (Northern Ireland), Kate Neale @dr.kate.neale (Cornwall) and Jordan Price Williams @jordanjpw (Wales) Posters: Francesca Appleton - Living Traditions and Honoured Roots: Contemporary Lindy Hop Traditions in London Ella Paul - Ballads in Care Homes Folk Arts as Intangible Cultural Heritage Conference Saturday 24 October @cecilsharphouse London NW1 Ticket price includes buffet lunch Book now - link in bio Organisers: Vaughan Williams Memorial Library in collaboration with Esbjörn Wettermark and Access Folk @accessfolk (University of Sheffield)

Tomorrow's Family Barn Dance starts 3pm at Cecil Sharp House, London NW1 Bring all the family and take part in lively folk dances to live music. Your caller for this barn dance will be Nancy Potts, who will guide the moves with simple instructions for all ages. Family Barn Dance @cecilsharphouse Sunday 11 October, 3pm-4.30pm Book now via our website Photo by Brian Slater shows parents and children dancing together.

Our annual one-day conference for people interested in Street Literature and Cheap Print in all its fascinating aspects – broadsides, chapbooks, songsters, woodcuts, engravings, last dying speeches, catchpennies, news (real and fake), almanacs, carol sheets, wonder tales, and all kinds of cheap printed ephemera sold or distributed to ordinary people in the streets and at fairs, from pedlars’ packs, and in back-street shops, up and down the country. Organised by the @traditionalsongforum with the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library @thevwml Broadside Day 2027 Sat 20 Feb, 9:30am-5pm @cecilsharphouse London NW1 Book your ticket now via our website

We're swelling with pride to have been shortlisted within the Excellence in SEND (Music & Drama ) Award at the Music & Drama Education Awards 2027 for our Inclusive Folk project. Our Inclusive Folk programme is supported by the @johnlyonscharity and aims to improve access to folk music and dance education for learning disabled young people. The project puts particular emphasis on working with young people with learning disabilities and complex needs (individuals with multiple and unique health and social care needs that affect their ability to participate in mainstream education and arts activities). Thank you to our lead tutor, Emmie Ward, tutor Nick Goode, and the other music leaders and support staff who work on the programme. Winners will be announced early next year. Wish us luck! Photo shows a morris dancing session at the Inclusive Folk Day held at @cecilsharphouse. Credit @roswithachesher

This Sunday! Bring all the family and take part in lively folk dances to live music. Your caller for this barn dance will be Nancy Potts, who will guide the moves with simple instructions for all ages. Family Barn Dance @cecilsharphouse Sunday 11 October, 3pm-4.30pm Book now via our website Photo by Brian Slater shows parents and children dancing together.

If you aren't a Member of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, you won't have received this month's Members' e-newsletter, which included a couple of tune arrangements by new EFDSS member and Devonian musician Graham Gilbert of UFOlk, along with news and opportunities from EFDSS and the wider folk scene. If you would like to receive next month's Members E-news and the exclusive Folk pin badge plus, sign up for as little as £2 a month via our website.

Speakers announced for our Inclusive Music Making: Folk Education Development Day Wednesday 4 November, 10am-4pm Free In Person: at Entrust Music Service Staffordshire @emsstaffs in Stafford OR Online: via Zoom with Live to your Living Room @livetoyourlr Speakers include: Emmie Ward and Nick Goode @aaronhorlock_and_nickgoode (tutors) and Lucy Stiles (EFDSS Education Manager) - Inclusive Folk - EFDSS' creative folk music and dance programme for learning disabled young people, including those with complex needs, which is supported by John Lyon's Charity @johnlyonscharity . They will lead a short practical workshop exploring material from their brand-new, free, online resource - Trad to Tech. Cat McGill @folkycat - Live to your Living Room and a freelance neurodivergent musician, working with music as a tool for connection and communication. She will be hosting our online strand. Cat will also lead a short signing song workshop and introduce her Ticking Clock interactive artwork. Andy Haines and Billy Payne, from Billy and Andy's Music School @billyandy_musicschool will talk about their work with young people with special educational needs and disabilities and how they are smashing musical barriers with joy + tech! He will also lead a short music making workshop. Dan Hollingshurst @danmusicmagic28 folk musician, peripatetic music teacher with Entrust Music Service Staffordshire and Music Centre Manger will talk about the work of the organisation, with a focus on their inclusive music making activities. Rachel Elliott @rachel.lucy.elliott (EFDSS Education Director) will give an update on the national aspects of the EFDSS Education programme and an outline of the National Youth Folk Ensemble @nationalyouthfolk Book your Free place now - link in bio - What's on at The House

Haitian Communal Singing: Black Voices in Common This #BlackHistoryMonth, we're thrilled to present a new addition to our series of Black History resources, which we have been producing since 2015. Created for EFDSS by Germa Adan @germa_music, this resource is an introduction to Haitian music, and features recordings and sheet music for four traditional Haitian songs in fantastic arrangements by Germa. It also contains teaching guidance and slideshow resources, as well as introductions to key concepts in Haitian culture contributed by Steveen Ulysse @becomingdrulysse The resource is designed for use at Key Stages 2 and 3, but is suitable and available for all. Explore the resource - Link in bio - Resource Bank: free educational materials Later this month, on Sat 17 Oct, join us for the Black British Folk Takeover; a day of song, music, storytelling and more from British Folkies of the African Diaspora, in collaboration with the Black British Folk Collective @blackbritishfolk Book now - Link in bio - What's on at the House

Please note that the library will be closed on Friday 9, Friday 16 and Thursday 22 October while our library team takes part in specialist training with the @britishlibrary’s Digital Department. We appreciate your understanding while our team develops new skills to enhance our library services. We look forward to welcoming you soon!

Our friends at @oxfolkceilidhs are hosting a Maypole Teaching Development Day. Learn to teach Maypole dances, or develop your Maypole skills, with expert tutors Mike Ruff @mike.ruff.music Kerry Fletcher @kerryfdr Anne Garrison and Alison Rowley @alisoninbristol Fri 30 Oct 11am-5pm Kennington Village Centre, near Oxford, OX1 5PG Head over to @oxfolkceilidhs to book your place.

Organised by the @traditionalsongforum and the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library @thevwml, the Broadside Day is the annual one-day conference for people interested in in street literature in all its fascinating aspects. We are inviting speakers who may wish to present a 20-minute paper. Suggestions for topics include (but are not restricted to): The subjects of the material (songs, stories and news items) Street literature collectors Authors Printers Street-sellers Printing technique The role that street literature played in spreading literacy, propaganda and dissent, and in keeping the poor entertained and informed. Anyone wishing to offer a presentation (20 minutes), please submit a title, synopsis (300 words) and brief biography (100 words), by Tuesday 7 December 2026, to [email protected] Broadside Day will take place at @cecilsharphouse London NW1 Saturday 20 February 2027, 9.30am–5pm

I first encountered ‘Alexander’ (Roud number 6247) as a fuzzy field recording of Frank Harte. The recorder probably nabbed him in the hallway as he returned from the gents. The result is so personal and intimate - as though he’s singing right in your ear - I was hooked from the second I heard it. 'A young lad comes to a girl’s window, begging for her love, but rather than pleading, declaring that he’s cold and drenched to the skin, he attempts to gain her by flexing his knowledge of scripture and mythology. He paints vivid pictures of mountains in the Far East and the conquests of Alexander the Great. Who could resist?' Read more on Macdara Yeates' 'A Song That Shaped Me' and book to see him perform Alexander in person at our Trad Night on Wed 4 Nov. Trad Night: Macdara Yeates @macdarayeates Wed 4 Nov | 7.30pm Book now: What's On > Gigs Read the article: About Us > News

Speakers for our one-day conference explores the current place of folk arts in England in relation to the UK-wide implementation of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage include: Keynote: Simon McKerrell (@glasgow_caledonian_university ) - Understanding the past in the present: what future for living heritage in a (dis)United Kingdom? Other speakers include: Matthew Cheeseman @einek1eine and Kay Dunn – Beyond ratification: building living heritage infrastructure for folk arts in England Jonathan Karkut and Julie Scott - Inventorying as a Gateway Emma Melville (Joint Morris Organisations) Grace Redpath @graceegrowler - From display to dance: longsword and the museum Hardeep Sahota @bhangra.master – Bhangra as living heritage: archive, transmission and recognition in England Daniel Carpenter @danielcarpenter_ (Heritage Crafts @heritagecrafts ) in conversation with Chloe Middleton-Metcalfe @englishfolkmum Michael Davidson - Intangible Cultural Heritage and Citizenship Panel session with Peter Hewitt @peetahooitt (Scotland), Bláithín Mhic Cana @blaithinmhiccana (Northern Ireland), Kate Neale @dr.kate.neale (Cornwall) and Jordan Price Williams @jordanjpw (Wales) Posters: Francesca Appleton - Living Traditions and Honoured Roots: Contemporary Lindy Hop Traditions in London Ella Paul - Ballads in Care Homes Folk Arts as Intangible Cultural Heritage Conference Saturday 24 October @cecilsharphouse, London NW1 Ticket price includes buffet lunch Book now - link in bio - What's on at the House Organisers: Vaughan Williams Memorial Library in collaboration with Esbjörn Wettermark and Access Folk @accessfolk (University of Sheffield)

Today is #EuropeanFolkDay, and we are celebrating with a flashback to our International (European) Folk Dance Festival of 1935! This image from our archive shows Italian dancers and musicians from the village of Aviano, who the English Folk Dance and Song Society invited to perform in London for the festival alongside dancers and musicians from all over Europe. See what folk activities are happening near you via @europeanfolknetwork

Micro Grants £500 for professional folk artists Apply now! Thanks to the continued and generous support of Conrad and Jennifer Bailey we are delighted to announce a seventh year of the Micro Grants Programme for Professional Folk Artists who live and work in England. This year eight grants of £500 each are being offered to folk artists to support anything that will help their professional career development. For example, this could be: Research and development time to for new creative projects Support for the production of new albums Instrument purchase Marketing, PR and/or digital support Technical equipment purchase (eg portable sound equipment) Other personal training and development activities Find out more and apply on our website - Link in Bio - Latest News Deadline for applications is midnight on 1 November Image shows previous Micro Grant recipient Claire Vine@iamclairevine who made a music video with the support from the grant.

Last chance to join the Monday Folk Singers (Online) Term starts tomorrow - Monday 21 September, 7pm These weekly sessions are suitable for singers of all abilities. All material is taught by ear by expert tutor, Jennifer Reid @jenniferballadss You will learn songs from Jennifer’s extensive repertoires as well as harmonies that you can sing with others, but focus will be less on multi-part arrangements and more on developing as folk singers (at any level) in a supportive environment. You will get to listen to different interpretations of songs, see examples from archives and field recordings and learn about the tutor’s approach to their singing and folk songs. Book now - Link in bio - Classes and Courses for Adults

Inclusive Music Making: Folk Education Development Day Wednesday 4 November, 10am-4pm Free In Person: at Entrust Music Service Staffordshire @emsstaffs in Stafford OR Online: via Zoom with Live to your Living Room @livetoyourlr The day is for people who run music sessions, events or classes and want to be able to better support disabled people to join them, as well as for people who already work with disabled people and want to introduce music making to their clients and students; and anyone interested in folk arts, and in any setting, such as community, education, heritage and participation settings. Find out more - Link in bio

Bring all the family and take part in lively dances in a fun environment Live music inspires the dancing and friendly callers guide the moves with simple instructions and gender-free calling. Your caller for this barn dance will be Nancy Potts. Family Barn Dance @cecilsharphouse Sunday 11 October, 3pm-4.30pm Book now - link in bio - What's on at the House Photo by Brian Slater

@something_sleeps' new single and video 'Rocks Of Bawn' is out and wonderful. And partly funded by a Micro Grant from us, the English Folk Dance and Song Society! Fiona Fey @fiona_fey_music (Mediaeval Baebes) and Reyhan Yusuf (Daemonia Nymphe), with violinist Monica Viñoly @vignolita (Graffiti Classics) and cellist Josh Considine (Filament Theatre), reimagine the 300-year-old Irish ballad to reflect the current housing and cost of living crises affecting so many of us today. Fiona explains: "We were drawn to this song because it doesn't shy away from how powerless you can feel when someone else is pulling the strings. We wanted the arrangement to sit inside that hopelessness rather than resolving it, so the harmonies and strings carry the weight of the words without offering any comfort. No-one could pretend it's history, landlord power still hangs over our heads in almost every area of life.” The full album 'Home' will be out early next year. Watch this space for details of how you can apply for an EFDSS Micro Grant to support your folk music. Application will open soon.

Exhibition opens today! Hill Drawings by Melvyn Robinson @melvynrobinson.art @cecilsharphouse Free entry An exhibition of paintings inspired by the style and landscapes of chalk hill figures. Exhibition open until Monday 11 January. The paintings incorporate a drawing style inspired by hill figures such as the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset, the Uffington White Horse in Berkshire, and other Celtic, Viking, and Anglo-Saxon sources, while depicting contemporary landscapes and are accompanied by poems and folksongs. View the exhibition online - link in bio - What's on at the House Image: Melvyn Robinson Horn Dance Watercolour on paper

Make music with the London Youth Folk Ensemble this weekend! Come to our free Taster Session at Cecil Sharp House Sun 20 Sep, 2pm-5pm For young people aged 11 to 19 years old (up to 24 years old for D/deaf and disabled young people) London Youth Folk Ensemble is open to confident musicians of any instrument. This means that you should be able to play your instrument independently and confidently, but do not need to have passed any particular grade. All music is taught by ear and no previous experience of folk music is needed. London Youth Folk Ensemble is an annual commitment and places are offered after you attend this session. Find out more - link in bio