New Lake Stage Cover
Shortlisted in the 2024 UK Festival Awards.
"I'd say it rivals Cambridge Folk Festival, albeit on a smaller scale, in terms of the diversity of the acts, the ambition of the programming, and the wide definition of folk it encompasses" Left Lion Magazine 2024
Experience the joy and excitement of live music, and let yourself be swept away in a place where everyone belongs. On 3rd to 6th July 2025, the 18th Gate To Southwell Festival returns to the beautiful lakeside setting where we've been since 2021, 4 miles from the market town of Southwell in rural Nottinghamshire. We've had glowing reviews, including from RNR Magazine on the 2024 festival, "...how brilliant is that? What a great festival!" and previously "excellent cast list...too many good performances to mention. It has become a great favourite, if you haven't been already, try it"
We're a not-for-profit organisation run by enthusiastic and experienced volunteers who love staging what 2023 festival-goers agreed is "quite possibly the best small folk and roots festival in the UK"! Any surplus income we generate is ploughed straight back into future events.
News...
Thanks, everyone! That’s a wrap until 2nd July 2026.
We hope the festival exceeded your expectations and that you’ll be back for more—keep an eye out for tickets from early September.
This festival only happens thanks to the hard work of so many people: an incredible team of volunteers, brilliant artists and traders, plus suppliers and contractors, and—most importantly — all of you who put your trust in us by buying tickets.
You’re a fantastic crowd, whether you’ve been coming for years or this was your first time. Please help spread the word!
Warm thanks
The GTSF Team
Follow us on Facebook too, to keep up to date, and join our mailing list via the link at the bottom of the page. Our latest news posts are below.
Big news for 2024 was the introduction of a cover for our main stage (The Lake Stage). The Folk Stage remains in a marquee, and The Frontier Stage is fully open (there are 6 other stages and performance areas on site too). See the about us page here.
