About US
About GTSF
For specifics and terms and conditions click here
We are a not-for-profit organisation run by enthusiastic and experienced volunteers who love staging what 2023 festival-goers described as "quite possibly the best small folk and roots festival in the UK"! Any surplus income we generate is ploughed straight back into future events.
The 2024 festival runs over 4 days, from Thursday 4th to Sunday 7th July with camping through to Monday.
In 2021 we moved to a fantastic new setting in lakeside parkland at Kirklington, 3 miles the other side of town from our previous site at Southwell Racecourse. Southwell is a beautiful Nottinghamshire market town (see the about Southwell page) approximately 13 miles from Nottingham and 8 miles from the A1 and Newark. See how to get to us here. It really is a great venue for a festival - see some pictures at the foot of the page.
There's plenty of space to camp, right on the festival site by the lakes. You can bring your vehicle onto the campsite so there's no need to lug tents and equipment about. For those not camping there's a free day car-park right next to the entrance. Or for a bit of extra luxury, why not try glamping?
Well behaved dogs are welcome to the campsite and into the festival arena, though not into marquees.
You'll find over 50 artists performing over 4 days on 3 main stages plus a children's stage and a workshop tent. The Lake Stage (our biggest) is a large open arena which we are considering covering for 2024. We recommend you bring chairs. The Folk Stage has a folkier feel to the music and it's in a marquee, (without walls). The Frontier Stage is our smaller third stage with a more lively feel to lots of the music. This is an open stage. You can bring chairs or mats to all the stages.
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Dogs Welcome!
Dance remains a popular part of the festival with an emphasis on variety and entertainment. Ceilidhs or other social folk dances normally take place each day on site.
Southwell is a family friendly and fun festival with plenty of entertainment for the kids and youths alike. Many children’s activities are aimed to be educative as well as fun with our own instrument workshops, and various other hands-on opportunities. Family entertainment always includes a liberal dose of street theatre and ‘walkabouts’ as well as storytellers and musicians.
We are a member of the Association of Festival Organisers, the UKs predominant organisation for independent festivals, where we share best practice and benefit from technical advice and experience. This was particularly valuable during the pandemic.
