Festival at the Edge

01/06/2026

FatE Expectations!! – Bordewey Young and Gittens (BYG)

For our first year at Bromyard we thought it was only right to find out some folk musicians with local connections, so we are really looking forward to Bordewey Young and Gittens.

Sit back, relax and toe tap to the eclectic mix of entertainment of the popular folk duo Dave Bordewey and Dave Young, who are joined again by guitar virtuoso Allistair Gittens - together are three of England’s finest folk musicians playing fiddle, guitar, dobro, melodeon, concertina and bouzouki.

Dave Bordewey has been involved with folk music for more years than he cares to remember. His roots are firmly in the tradition of the British Isles, from his first folk group at university with Tim Laycock, moving on to be a resident singer at Cecil Sharp House folk club, Dingles and Camden Town folk clubs and then as multi-instrumentalist with the band Crows throughout the 1980s.
Dave Young became interested in folk music at the age of 18, having seen a local Morris side performing outside a local pub in Surrey. The following year he joined Cup Hill Morris Men first as a dancer, and later learnt the melodeon and anglo-concertina. He also played with several barn-dance bands in the South-East of England, before moving to Malvern in 2000. Be entertained with a mix of folk tunes and songs mainly from England but also from America and Ireland with some self-penned thrown in.

FatE takes place 17 – 19 July at Bromyard, Herefordshire.

Tickets available from www.festivalattheedge.org

Festival takes place at Bromyard, Herefordshire 17-19 July 2026

Tickets and information available from our website: www.festivalattheedge.org

24/05/2026

Fate Attractions - Dave Oliver

Sunny greetings on this glorious Bank Holiday Monday, hope you’re enjoying the weather and managing to keep cool!

Here at FatE, the announcements of performers keep coming – we are thrilled to have Dave Oliver with us this year. Many of you will remember Dave from when he performed at FatE in our Stokes Barn years as one half of the walkabout Pirate duo – Tyburn Jig.
Now he’s back, with some fabulous stories, performing in the Family Tent.

Dave Oliver brings an energy and humour to his tales; he will be telling a mix of entertaining stories to delight the young - and not so young (7 years plus).

Hear tales of giant worms, greedy Boggarts, singing cats, Cornish giants, and cake stealing trolls!

Dave has been a Devon based professional storyteller, poet, puppeteer and performer for 30 years.

“Dave Oliver … hilarious and totally compelling as ever, as his stories drew one into his crazy topsy-turvy folktales … with his splendid range of accents and utter charm” (Shane Wolfland - Exeter Respect Festival).

www.rattleboxtheatre.com



FatE takes place 17-19 July 2026 at Bromyard, Herefordshire.

Information and Tickets available from www.festivalattheedge.org

17/05/2026

FatE Attractions!! - Amy Douglas and Martin Daws.

FatE is delighted to announce that we have local Shropshire teller Amy Douglas Storyteller and Martin Daws joining us this year. Together these two internationally acclaimed performers combine traditional oral storytelling with contemporary spoken word, song and kalimba.

Amy Douglas has been integral within the modern British storytelling landscape as performer, promoter and advocate for the past three decades. Her three folk tale collections have all received Storytelling World Awards. After winning 'Young Storyteller of the Year' at 16, Amy Douglas apprenticed to world-renowned traditional Scots Traveller storyteller and ballad-singer, Duncan Williamson. She now holds many of his stories and ballads in trust and will be sharing some of them as part of her 'Selkie' set, as well sharing tales of Shropshire and Herefordshire.

A storyteller of integrity, wit and subtle humour, Amy is a pioneer for taking storytelling into new arenas and formats, including recent projects in VR and blended performance. She currently runs BLAST! storytelling performances; the monthly online concert series 'A Tale for All Seasons' and the first online storytelling talk show of its kind, ‘Taking the Tradition On’.
www.amydouglas.com

Acclaimed spoken word poet Martin Daws has performed his work across three decades and multiple continents developing his own unique fusion of poetry, song, MCing and live kalimba. Renowned as a Creative Practitioner Martin was honoured with the role of Young People’s Laureate for Wales (2013-16) working in partnership with Urban Word NYC. He has published two written collections of his own work and has had numerous poems included in journals and anthologies.
https://www.martindaws.co.uk/

FatE takes place 17 - 19 July at Bromyard, Herefordshire.
Tickets and details on our website at www.festivalattheedge.org

04/05/2026

Site Visit and Festival Planning!

We've had a very productive and satisfying May Bank Holiday weekend with a site visit to Bromyard, where we had lots of discussions to bring our ideas together for . It was also fabulous to experience the site in the warm May weather, with beautiful birdsong all around us, and the cows watching on.

We also managed to get busy with Programme Planning, which is now about 95% complete. There are just a few loose ends to be tied up before it can be finalised and published - watch out for this around the start of June.

It's been really exciting seeing the programme coming together - we think it is a really good balance of all the things that will make this a fabulous festival.

Keep watching here for more news!

Festival takes place 17-19 July 2026 at Bromyard, Herefordshire.
Tickets and information available at www.festivalattheedge.org

26/04/2026

FatE Expectations!! - James Canvin

We are delighted to announce that James Canvin will be performing at FatE this year. James has been gaining a brilliant reputation as a teller over the last 10 years or so, and we are really looking forward to his performances at this summer.
Since 2014, James Canvin has been sharing dynamic retellings of myths, folktales and wonder tales wherever people are willing to listen.

Drawing largely on British and European traditions, his stories are filled with gods and tricksters, magicians and lovers, and the curious bargains that shape the world.

He has performed at events including Teddington Arts Festival and Kingston Festival of the Spoken Word, and appeared in venues ranging from libraries to storytelling clubs across the UK.
James helped run Surrey Storytellers for a decade, nurturing a thriving local storytelling community.

FatE takes place at Bromyard, Herefordshire 17-19 July 2026
Tickets and information available from our website: www.festivalattheedge.org

18/04/2026

Glamping comes to FatE!!

Love living on the festival site close to the action and friends, but finding camping a bit of a chore – why not try our glorious Glamping option?

We have teamed up with local Glamping company “Pitch” who can provide you with a choice of bell tents at different levels of luxury.
The Glamping Village will be situated within our normal camping field, but glamping has the added bonus of you not needing to fill your car with camping gear and not having to erect the tent!

There are 3 packages to choose from – 3, 4, or 5 star, depending on your requirements and budget. Tents are available for 2, 3 or 4 persons.

You can glamp between 1pm on Friday 17th July to 7pm on Sunday 19th July, but you must have a corresponding festival ticket for the same number of nights that you are glamping.

Festival tickets are available from our website - www.festivalattheedge.org

For more information and to book your bell tent go to:
https://pitch-tents.co.uk/festival-at-the-edge/

(Note: Terms and Conditions / Festival etiquette apply as normal.)

We are super excited to be a part of Festival at the Edge in 2026! We will be heading to Bromyard to set up a glamping village to help make your stay at the festival even more special.

13/04/2026

FatE 2026 - Less than 100 days to go!!

With Easter already behind us, this year feels like it’s moving faster than ever, which means that is just around the corner. Yippee!!

As you can see below, we have a fantastic range of artists booked for your entertainment. You can expect to be transported into flights of fancy and fabulous fantasies with tales from across the globe, with myths and legends from Xanthe Gresham-Knight, stories from the Caribbean from Baden Prince, Nigerian tales from Phil Okwedy, Irish tales from Story From Seeds - Maria Gillen - Storyteller, and Swedish stories from Dominic Kelly. While our main focus is on storytelling, we also have some brilliant musicians appearing including Melrose Quartet and John Tams. And we are still actively booking new artists, so keep checking our website for a list of confirmed artists to date.

Or, rather than just watching, why not get more actively involved by telling your own stories in one of our story rounds, learning new skills in our storytelling or music workshops led by some of our performers, or – if you want something more physically active you could go on a story walk, or practise tai chi and qi gong or craft workshops (Other workshops to be announced).

Whatever your age, there is something for everyone.

Don’t leave it until the last minute - book your place for a weekend filled with great stories, music and entertainment.

Festival takes place at Bromyard, Herefordshire 17-19 July 2026

Tickets and information available from our website: www.festivalattheedge.org

06/04/2026

FatE Attractions!! - Dominic Kelly

Appearing for the first time since 2015 (when FatE was based in Much Wenlock), it is brilliant to see Dominic Kelly - Performance Storyteller returning to perform at at our new venue in rural Bromyard (Herefordshire).

Dominic’s warm, witty and powerful storytelling style has captivated audiences around the world, including at the Barbican, National Theatre, British Museum, and The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, and theatres, festivals and schools in countries from India to the Arctic Circle. His performances have been described by The Times as “compelling”, “funny” and “a treat”.

Dominic divides his life between northern England and northern Sweden – where he is guest lecturer in Storytelling at Linköping University, and associate member of storytelling company Fabula Storytelling. He has also directed performances for venues across Scandinavia, including Norway’s national stage Riksscenen.
His work has strong ties to nature and landscape, and Dominic invests much time in coming to know intimately the places from which his stories come. Most recently this has been in the Swedish forests, where he’s bumped into bears, been checked out from just a few metres by one of the world’s largest owls and, inevitably, been eaten alive by mosquitoes.

He has trained theatre, education and heritage professionals in storytelling techniques on three continents. Dominic has also helped thousands of young people find their narrative voice through workshops and arts-in-education projects, working in schools across the UK, Scandinavia, Europe, South America and India.

We can’t wait …
FatE takes place at Bromyard, Herefordshire 17-19 July 2026
Tickets and information available from our website: www.festivalattheedge.org

22/03/2026

Fate Atttractions!!

Story From Seeds - Maria Gillen - Storyteller is an award-winning Irish storyteller who has been entertaining audiences across the world including in the USA, Germany and Croatia, so it is great to announce that she will be performing for us at .

Maria Gillen is a well-known Bean An Tí (Irish Session Host) on the Irish Storytelling Circuit, and she was Storyteller in Residence for Kerry Writers Museum from 2019 to 2022, and Artistic Director for the Listowel International Storytelling Festival 2020 to 2022. Maria is currently working as an archivist with Sheahan’s Storytelling Cottage in Finuge – a 300-year-old traditional Rambling House in Finuge, Co. Kerry, Ireland.

Maria delivers stories of Ireland’s Ancient East, Wild Atlantic Way, the Diaspora bond with America and the impressive history of Cork City and Cobh Harbour.

Come and hear Maria's fabulous stories for yourself!
Festival takes place at Bromyard, Herefordshire 17-19 July 2026
Tickets and information available from our website:
www.festivalattheedge.org

05/03/2026

FatE Attractions!!

We are sure that many of you will remember seeing Nancy Kerr and James Fagan at previous FatEs in years past, so we are absolutely thrilled that they are returning to us this year together with Jess and Richard Arrowsmith, who together make up Melrose Quartet.

From deep roots in Sheffield’s vibrant music, song and dance scene, to concert appearances all over the UK, Melrose Quartet have forged a reputation for making music that truly connects with people. All four are internationally renowned singers, instrumentalists and writer/composers, respected teachers and the patrons of Whitby Folk Festival. They are also an oustanding live act, whose musicians complement each other beautifully, with Nancy Kerr (voice, fiddle), James Fagan (voice, bouzouki, guitar), Jess Arrowsmith (voice, fiddle) and Richard Arrowsmith (voice, melodeons).

September 2023 saw the release of “Make The World Anew”, which went straight into the Official Folk Charts at Number 11, and followed the critical success of “Dominion” and “The Rudolph Variations.” Their debut album “Fifty Verses” was nominated for Best Album at the 2014 BBC Folk Awards. A truly all-round act of the highest quality.

Latest video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dZBTlH0skc
NEW ALBUM “MAKE THE WORLD ANEW”
“FIVE STARS - Harmony singing second to none. An excellent album by a magnificent band.” RnR
“Album of the Year” Folk London
“Make The World Anew attempts in a small but determined way to achieve the edict set out in its title, and it succeeds resoundingly. It is also Melrose Quartet’s most upbeat and accomplished album to date.” Folk Radio UK
“Make The World Anew is like a musical patchwork quilt - wrap yourself up in it and enjoy the sound of four friends making the music that they really love.” TradFolk

FatE takes place at Bromyard, Herefordshire 17-19 July 2026

Tickets and information available from our website: www.festivalattheedge.org