Indoor Festival of Folk

A day-long winter feast of music and very special guests under Cecil Sharp House’s historic roof, co-hosted by EFDSS and folk rock supergroup The Magpie Arc.

We are thrilled to welcome five of the country's finest folk artists and a unique interview session from BBC and Folk On Foot videocast presenter Matthew Bannister with a legendary UK music great. Joining us on the day will be...

Ian Anderson

The singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and leader of the legendary Jethro Tull, one of the worlds biggest and most successful bands, with worldwide sales of over 60 million albums, over 3000 gigs played and a controversial Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental in a (so far) 59 year career. This will be a very rare opportunity to hear Ian talk about his life in music and all things Jethro Tull with interviewer Matthew Bannister.

True Foxes

Having performed over 800 shows since forming in 2019, Amie Parsons and Chloe Payne are True Foxes an acclaimed alt-country/Americana cousin duo from Cornwall who are rapidly gaining recognition across the UK and internationally. Led by Amie’s powerful vocals and soulful songwriting, often compared to Laura Marling and Brandi Carlile, the duo blend acoustic guitar with Chloe’s ethereal harmonies and melodic bass lines. Their honest storytelling, natural chemistry, and warm sisterly banter take audiences on an emotional journey.

Sam Carter Sings Nic Jones

Sheffield-based Sam Carter brings this wildly popular show back to Cecil Sharp House. A BBC Folk Award-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist, his vivid contemporary songwriting draws on the traditions of English and American folksong with distinctively English acoustic fingerstyle guitar playing at the heart of his sound. His Sam Carter Sings Nic Jones show is a celebration of the music of the legendary English folk singer, and this will be one of the last opportunities to hear a set that has has seen packed festival performances and venues throughout the UK.

Jenn Butterworth

Widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading exponents of traditional folk guitar, Jenn is renowned for her exceptional skills in collaboration, accompaniment and arrangement. She seamlessly adapts to any stage whether performing in an intimate venue or commanding a large festival audience. Her debut solo album 'Her By Design' was released in 2025 to fantastic critical acclaim, reaching the UK Official Top 40 Download Charts and winning the prestigious Annual Preis Der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics’ Award) and she was subsequently invited to support Fairport Convention on one of their mammoth UK tours that year where she was praised for her outstanding perfomances.

The Magpie Arc

A cross-border band from Sheffield and Edinburgh featuring multi-award winning artist Nancy Kerr with Tom Wright, Alex Hunter and tour guitarist Sam Carter. Formed from the idea of bringing together a group of established folk musicians who would mix their songwriting styles and musicianship in a full-on electric band to create exciting new music and update the classic 60s and 70s British folk/rock sound, the possibilities of The Magpie Arc being something special and unique on today’s folk scene became obvious very quickly. With all members being strong writers the focus is naturally on new material, however they also tackle their own re-workings of traditional songs. There’s folk, rock and elements of prog-rock which saw them feature in 2026 in Prog Magazine the specialist bible of all things musically progressive but whatever the genre the band are their own musical mix of everything you could expect from such a line-up, with excellent songs, lush harmonies, scything electric guitars, gorgeous fiddle lines and rock solid bass and drums.

To be announced in the next few weeks will be one more musicial artist who will be join this incredible line-up.

Please note that there will be a strict finishing time curfew of 10.30pm.

Presented by EFDSS and The Magpie Arc.

This ticket price includes a 75p building levy.