WEST Devon-based folk stars Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman are among the highlights of this year's annual celebration of traditional music in Okehampton, the Baring-Gould Folk Weekend. The husband-and-wife duo will be performing a selection of favourites plus some brand new songs from their forthcoming album when they headline the festival's Saturday afternoon concert at Fairplace Church. The line-up of a jam-packed weekend also includes Phil Beer from Show of Hands, award-winning Plymouth-based folk singer James Findlay, the Wren Band, comprising musicians from the event organisers Wren Music, and the kings of the ceilidh, Tickled Pink. The festival on October 24 to 26 takes place at venues throughout the town and welcomes in the autumn season, with local produce playing a big role during the three days as well as a conker contest. There are also dances, communal sing-songs, and the chance for people to get up close to the performers. This year's programme aims to bring together all the generations, with new features for families including a family ceilidh and 'Down in Granny's Yard', where grandparents and older visitors to the festival can share their childhood games and songs with their grandchildren. For Kathryn and Sean, 2013 BBC Folk Award winners for best duo, it is another chance to play at an event that is close to their hearts. Kathryn said:?'We played the Baring-Gould Festival about ten years ago and the community feeling really stuck in my mind. 'I think it was on the Sunday and we sang some songs in the village hall. It just took me right back, a real reminder of what folk festivals should be about. 'The Baring-Gould weekend is all about continuing a tradition and community involvement.' The festival, now in its 16th year, takes its name from Lewtrenchard parson, the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould, who lived from 1834 to 1924. He cycled around the South West, collecting hundreds of folk songs from many communities. Some of the local acts at the festival will be performing a selection of these songs, and there is a chance that Kathryn and Sean's show will also feature a nod to the song collector. 'It's the storytelling aspect of these traditional songs that caught my ear in the first place,' said Kathryn. 'They are all self-contained little stories with a beginning, middle and end, and it's something that we have in our own songs.' Sean is looking forward to playing some new songs from their upcoming fourth album, Tomorrow Will Follow Today. 'It will be out in a few months' time,' said Sean. 'The album is about coming to terms with what you do in life, what your purpose is. For us it's an acceptance that we are committed to what we do for the long haul. 'There's a bunch of new songs which are inspired by all sorts of places. We're particularly proud in drawing inspiration from Dartmoor and the Tamar Valley and working that into our music and then taking it around the country and to other parts of the world.' Kathryn and Sean have often performed songs from the Baring-Gould collection and Sean says it's impossible to under-state the significance of his work. 'His Songs of the West is one of the most pivotal works in the English Folk Song Collection, so his importance is enormous. 'Keeping traditional music alive for the next generation is one of the reasons behind the organisers introducing new family events on the Sunday of the festival.' Former BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards winner James Findlay is another highlight of the weekend, while the Saturday Night Ceilidh at the Charter Hall features Tickled Pink, who celebrate their 25th anniversary this year. An hour with Phil Beer takes place at the White Hart on Sunday at 4pm and 'Down in Granny's Yard' is at the Ockment Centre hall, also on Sunday from 10am to noon. Contact Wren Music on 01837 53754 for information or visit the festival website at http://www.baring-gould.co.uk">www.baring-gould.co.uk for the full programme and prices, including special weekend passes and family tickets as well as tickets for individual events.