THE 28th Dartmoor Folk Festival gets underway tomorrow (Friday) with an evening concert featuring top acts Hanging Johnny, Jackie Oates and Dangerous Curves. Throughout the three-day festival which runs in the village of South Zeal from Friday until Sunday, there will be performances by many other acclaimed traditional folk musicians including Roy Bailey, The Posh Band, The Sultans of Squeeze (John Kirkpatrick and Chris Parkinson), Ben Campbell, Kelly Quarry Blasters and the Dartmoor Pixie Band. The highlight of Saturday afternoon will be provided by the annual Dartmoor Broom Dance and Dartmoor Step Dance Championships. More than 15 Morris and dance teams will also be attending, with many teams visiting Okehampton, Chagford, and the Finch Foundry at Sticklepath during the weekend to provide an even more colourful spectacle. However, there is much more besides the music, the festival also boasts a craft tent, a slapstick comedy workshop, storytelling sessions, a guided ramble on Dartmoor and children?s entertainment. The festival begins in earnest tomorrow, but will be officially opened on Saturday afternoon by Dartmoor author Michael Jecks, whose murder mystery books based in mediaeval Devon have proved so popular.
