Hard-working organisers of Leek Arts Festival have released details of some of the major acts planned for the festival in May next year.
Headlining the 2019 programme will be folk superstar Cara Dillon.
Cara has risen to become one of the finest exponents of traditional Irish song anywhere in the world. She has a rare and unique voice that has been lauded since her very beginnings, winning the All Ireland singing trophy in 1989 – aged only 14.
She’s won countless awards and accolades including “Album Of The Year” at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, The Meteor Music Award for “Best Irish Female”, and Tatler’s “Woman Of The Year in Music” and has appeared in prestigious concert halls and at festivals the world over.
Another newcomer to Leek Arts Festival in 2019 will be American singer-songwriter Dean Friedman who gave us silky hits like Lucky Stars and Ariel in the 1970s and is championed today by our very own Gaby Roslin and Jonathan Ross.
Dean’s never really gone away – he’s just been busy over the years producing a string of albums of precision-crafted songs in his own inimitable style.
Adding a touch of humour to the 2019 festival will be three lads who claim to be the illegitimate sons of a hugely popular and much-missed Irish entertainer.
The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser whose hilarious parodies of popular songs by some of the world’s biggest artists – including The Police, Abba, the Bee Gees and Chris de Burgh – ensure sell performances wherever they play.
Leek Arts Festival spokesman Phil Edmeades said: “We’ve thought long and hard about the main artists for 2019 and it’s always a bit of a balancing act between who we’d like and who we can afford, bearing in mind the limited audience capacity at Leek’s Foxlowe Arts Centre and the need to keep ticket prices at an affordable level.
“We’re still negotiating with a couple of other big names and we’ll be making more announcements as we go along. However, we’re delighted with the key artists confirmed so far.”
Festival favourites Fairport Convention, together with the fabulous Birmingham Conservatiore Folk Ensemble will also feature in the 2019 festival programme.
Tickets for events confirmed so far will be available online – www.leekartsfestival.co.uk – and direct from the Foxlowe and Leek Tourist Information Centre from Thursday, November 1.
