The Proclaimers, Arrested Development and Rufus Wainwright to headline much-loved festival near Peterborough

One of our region’s most popular music festivals is preparing to welcome music lovers this weekend.

The Cambridge Music Festival will be opening the gates to the venerated grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall from Thursday July 27 right through to Sunday July 30.

As well as hosting traditional folk artists from the UK and Ireland, the historic festival also welcomes cutting-edge contemporary acts and American country, blues and roots artists. Acclaimed singer songwriters and world music stars also make appearances, sometimes in low-profile billings and on the hush-hush.

Legendary Scottish brothers Craig and Charlie Reid – better known to millions as The Proclaimers – top this year’s bill, with many music fans already citing their Friday night headliner slot as the weekend’s standout highlight.

However, the 500-milers aren’t the only big-name acts to lookout for, with the likes of Imelda May, Arrested Development and Rufus Wainwright also likely to pull huge crowds at the 2023 festival.

Four-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo and universally-adored ‘Barnsley Nightingale’ Kate Rusby will be making highly-anticipated appearances, too.

A fixture in the city since 1965, Cambridge Folk Festival is one of the longest running folk festivals in the world. Regularly attracting around 15,000 music fans to its four main stages every year, this stalwart of the live music scene is regarded as a ‘must-see’ event for many people across our region and far beyond.

Most of the more established acts will perform on Stage 1, a cavernous venue housed within a giant marquee in front of the main festival arena. Proximal to this is Stage 2, which is an altogether more intimate venue. Not far away lies Stage 3, traditionally the place where fans of Celtic Nations folk music go to get their ceilidh groove on.

Other notable venues include The Den, where artists aged under 30 perform to progress their music careers, and The Hub, a special area where young/aspiring musicians hang out, take part in workshops, jam and perform.

There is also plenty going on away from the music, with a particular emphasis on family and kid-friendly activities and workshops. Instrument making, willow sculpture, knitting, songwriting, drawing, storytelling, clog dancing, juggling, paddling, den building, tai-chi, and music making will all be on hand, plus there’s a play area and paddling pool for younger children to enjoy.

Suffice to say, many parents with young children bound for Cherry Hinton are already buzzing about the prospect of singing along with Cbeebies favourite Nick Cope at the Children’s Concert on Sunday.

Camping is available at nearby Coldham’s Common which offers regular free shuttle bus services to and from the festival site throughout the day and night. As well as being orderly and well set-up with showers, toilets and fresh water, the kid-friendly campsite also boasts hot food outlets, music and dance workshops, kids activities and scheduled on-site musical performances.

Amazingly, some tickets are still available. Full individual festival tickets are £205 for adults and £49 for under 18s. Various other prices are available for individual days and glamping and camping accommodation.Visit www.cambridgelive.org.uk/folk-festival to find out more.