top of page
image.png
image.png
image.png
image.png
image.png
image.png

THE GATE TO SOUTHWELL FESTIVAL

19th International Roots & Acoustic Music Festival

D6D_5793.jpg
grey.png

NEW LAKE STAGE COVER

SmallFestival.jpg

​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 

This isn’t just a festival. It’s four days each year when the ordinary world can wait outside the gates. GTSF is "quite possibly the best small folk and roots festival in the UK" — not because we say so, but because our audience does, and you return year after year to prove it. If you come too, then from the moment you arrive — by festival bus or pitching up with your car by your tent — you step straight into the heartbeat of the festival. Nine performance areas including three main stages of genre-busting music. 60+ acts, with many playing multiple stages, and more to participate in than you could ever imagine over 4 celebratory days: the laughter, late-night sessions, pints of great beers and ciders, wonderful street theatre and kids' entertainment, and the sense that you’ve stepped into something rare and real. From 2nd to 5th July 2026, our 19th festival returns to its beautiful lakeside home near Southwell, Nottinghamshire. And what you carry away won’t fit in your bag: songs, laughter, and a little magic. 

By the way, GTSF is a not-for-profit organisation, run by enthusiastic and experienced volunteers, and we love putting on this festival. Any surplus income goes straight back into future events.

NEWS...

Tickets for 2026 are now on sale. Early Bird and Tier 1 tickets sold out in record time, so please hurry if you want Tier 2 tickets. We have also released a limited first batch of single day tickets. See here.

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.

LINE-UP 2026
The first of 60+ artists for GTSF 2026...
(see previous line-ups here)

DETTA KENZIE

An indie-folk singer and songwriter whose music, while often touched by traditional Celtic folk influences, is guided by a thoroughly modern and independent spirit

DAYS TBC

CHRIS CLEVERLEY

A true guitar-man, his breathtaking fingerstyle technique & visceral lyricism draw comparisons with Lo-fi American Greats, Elliott Smith & Sufjan Stevens

DAYS TBC

ELIZA MARSHALL

Eliza is a multi-faceted flautist following her musical passions; diverse, organic and without boundaries.

SUNDAY

sunflower8 good reflected.png

2ND - 5TH JULY 2026

top of page

web foot pic.png

Join our mailing list.

Never miss an update

Member of the Association Independent Festivals.

Copyright, The Gate to Southwell Folk Festival Ltd. Gate to Southwell Festival | Nottinghamshire, England. Reg 06242562 

  • Facebook
  • Youtube
Spotify_Logo_CMYK_White.png

Photo credits here

See our privacy policy here

Contact us here

Various images via vecteezy.com

shortlisted square.png
bottom of page