Festival at the Edge

13/06/2026

FatE Attractions!! Children’s Programme

As some of you may have read in Facts and Fiction Magazine, this year we now have a Shadow Committee - a group of young FatE enthusiasts and volunteers who are passionate about storytelling, and who have put themselves forward to support FatE, bringing a younger perspective to our planning and to take FatE into the future.

We are really excited to announce that our young Shadow Committee have planned the children’s programme this year. They have booked artists, planned activities and brought a fresh approach to the children’s programme, which will mainly take place in the Family Marquee. They will also be running the venue, including the children’s workshops, story rounds for children and young people, a breakfast club, and the return of the children’s parade. We think they have done a cracking job. (Full details will be available in the published programme).

The children’s programme will feature two young storytellers: Iris Skipworth and Ffion Phillips – who both appeared last year as part of the Young Storytellers Showcase.

Ffion Phillips is a bilingual storyteller & folk musician with a passion for breathing new enchantment into old tales and reworking scraps of forgotten material into fresh stories. Her work explores feminist and environmentalist themes, with much of her repertoire rooted deeply in her native Eryri, while also adventuring to stories further afield. She has performed at a wide range of festivals, including Beyond the Border, Aberystwyth and the Eisteddfod Stomp Stori, FatE and the Edinburgh Fringe.

Iris Skipworth has been telling stories at festivals and clubs across the UK for over a decade. Twice winner of the National Young Storyteller of the Year, she established, and now runs, the Manchester based storytelling club, A Sting In The Tale. Iris also runs storytelling workshops for a variety of ages, in schools and mental health facilities, and has become a member of FatE’s newly formed Shadow Committee. She has performed at Marrakech International Storytelling Festival, Whitby Folk, Sidmouth Folk, and FatE.

We are proud to present our revitalised children’s programme this year, so bring your children along and join in the fun! For more news on the Children’s Programme – watch this space!!

Festival takes place at Bromyard, Herefordshire 17-19 July 2026.

Tickets and information available from our website:
www.festivalattheedge.org

07/06/2026

FatE Expectations - Leominster Morris!!

We are really chuffed to be reviving our old tradition of having Morris dancers on site again this year, so we are very happy to welcome a Morris side from just up the road from the market town of Leominster, who will be performing on Saturday.

The current Leominster Morris was formed in 1983 originally by men who had danced in other sides but who found themselves with a common desire to revive the old Leominster tradition.
They dance predominantly traditional ‘Welsh Border’ dances but also some Cotswold dances.

In addition, the side regularly performs dances of their own creation. January 6th sees their famous Wassail and Mummers play which many hundreds of spectators look forward to. From the “Sun Up” dance on May Day they perform at festivals and local pubs, often with other sides, throughout the summer.

Leominster Morris are noted for the speed and style of their dancing which has become a hallmark of their spirited performances.

Tickets available from www.festivalattheedge.org

Festival takes place at Bromyard, Herefordshire 17-19 July 2026

Tickets and information available from our website: www.festivalattheedge.org

05/06/2026

Join in the conversation with Adverse Camber 😊💚💜👇👇👇

Who is going to Festival at the Edge this year? Add your name in the comments and we will look out for you.

It's always on our storytelling radar to see some of our favourite storytellers and artists.
We can't wait to see the new festival site too.
Tickets are still available
https://www.festivalattheedge.org

01/06/2026

FatE Expectations!! – Bordewey Young and Gittens (BYG)

For our first year at Bromyard we thought it was only right to find out some folk musicians with local connections, so we are really looking forward to Bordewey Young and Gittens.

Sit back, relax and toe tap to the eclectic mix of entertainment of the popular folk duo Dave Bordewey and Dave Young, who are joined again by guitar virtuoso Allistair Gittens - together are three of England’s finest folk musicians playing fiddle, guitar, dobro, melodeon, concertina and bouzouki.

Dave Bordewey has been involved with folk music for more years than he cares to remember. His roots are firmly in the tradition of the British Isles, from his first folk group at university with Tim Laycock, moving on to be a resident singer at Cecil Sharp House folk club, Dingles and Camden Town folk clubs and then as multi-instrumentalist with the band Crows throughout the 1980s.
Dave Young became interested in folk music at the age of 18, having seen a local Morris side performing outside a local pub in Surrey. The following year he joined Cup Hill Morris Men first as a dancer, and later learnt the melodeon and anglo-concertina. He also played with several barn-dance bands in the South-East of England, before moving to Malvern in 2000. Be entertained with a mix of folk tunes and songs mainly from England but also from America and Ireland with some self-penned thrown in.

FatE takes place 17 – 19 July at Bromyard, Herefordshire.

Tickets available from www.festivalattheedge.org

Festival takes place at Bromyard, Herefordshire 17-19 July 2026

Tickets and information available from our website: www.festivalattheedge.org

24/05/2026

Fate Attractions - Dave Oliver

Sunny greetings on this glorious Bank Holiday Monday, hope you’re enjoying the weather and managing to keep cool!

Here at FatE, the announcements of performers keep coming – we are thrilled to have Dave Oliver with us this year. Many of you will remember Dave from when he performed at FatE in our Stokes Barn years as one half of the walkabout Pirate duo – Tyburn Jig.
Now he’s back, with some fabulous stories, performing in the Family Tent.

Dave Oliver brings an energy and humour to his tales; he will be telling a mix of entertaining stories to delight the young - and not so young (7 years plus).

Hear tales of giant worms, greedy Boggarts, singing cats, Cornish giants, and cake stealing trolls!

Dave has been a Devon based professional storyteller, poet, puppeteer and performer for 30 years.

“Dave Oliver … hilarious and totally compelling as ever, as his stories drew one into his crazy topsy-turvy folktales … with his splendid range of accents and utter charm” (Shane Wolfland - Exeter Respect Festival).

www.rattleboxtheatre.com



FatE takes place 17-19 July 2026 at Bromyard, Herefordshire.

Information and Tickets available from www.festivalattheedge.org

17/05/2026

FatE Attractions!! - Amy Douglas and Martin Daws.

FatE is delighted to announce that we have local Shropshire teller Amy Douglas Storyteller and Martin Daws joining us this year. Together these two internationally acclaimed performers combine traditional oral storytelling with contemporary spoken word, song and kalimba.

Amy Douglas has been integral within the modern British storytelling landscape as performer, promoter and advocate for the past three decades. Her three folk tale collections have all received Storytelling World Awards. After winning 'Young Storyteller of the Year' at 16, Amy Douglas apprenticed to world-renowned traditional Scots Traveller storyteller and ballad-singer, Duncan Williamson. She now holds many of his stories and ballads in trust and will be sharing some of them as part of her 'Selkie' set, as well sharing tales of Shropshire and Herefordshire.

A storyteller of integrity, wit and subtle humour, Amy is a pioneer for taking storytelling into new arenas and formats, including recent projects in VR and blended performance. She currently runs BLAST! storytelling performances; the monthly online concert series 'A Tale for All Seasons' and the first online storytelling talk show of its kind, ‘Taking the Tradition On’.
www.amydouglas.com

Acclaimed spoken word poet Martin Daws has performed his work across three decades and multiple continents developing his own unique fusion of poetry, song, MCing and live kalimba. Renowned as a Creative Practitioner Martin was honoured with the role of Young People’s Laureate for Wales (2013-16) working in partnership with Urban Word NYC. He has published two written collections of his own work and has had numerous poems included in journals and anthologies.
https://www.martindaws.co.uk/

FatE takes place 17 - 19 July at Bromyard, Herefordshire.
Tickets and details on our website at www.festivalattheedge.org

04/05/2026

Site Visit and Festival Planning!

We've had a very productive and satisfying May Bank Holiday weekend with a site visit to Bromyard, where we had lots of discussions to bring our ideas together for . It was also fabulous to experience the site in the warm May weather, with beautiful birdsong all around us, and the cows watching on.

We also managed to get busy with Programme Planning, which is now about 95% complete. There are just a few loose ends to be tied up before it can be finalised and published - watch out for this around the start of June.

It's been really exciting seeing the programme coming together - we think it is a really good balance of all the things that will make this a fabulous festival.

Keep watching here for more news!

Festival takes place 17-19 July 2026 at Bromyard, Herefordshire.
Tickets and information available at www.festivalattheedge.org

26/04/2026

FatE Expectations!! - James Canvin

We are delighted to announce that James Canvin will be performing at FatE this year. James has been gaining a brilliant reputation as a teller over the last 10 years or so, and we are really looking forward to his performances at this summer.
Since 2014, James Canvin has been sharing dynamic retellings of myths, folktales and wonder tales wherever people are willing to listen.

Drawing largely on British and European traditions, his stories are filled with gods and tricksters, magicians and lovers, and the curious bargains that shape the world.

He has performed at events including Teddington Arts Festival and Kingston Festival of the Spoken Word, and appeared in venues ranging from libraries to storytelling clubs across the UK.
James helped run Surrey Storytellers for a decade, nurturing a thriving local storytelling community.

FatE takes place at Bromyard, Herefordshire 17-19 July 2026
Tickets and information available from our website: www.festivalattheedge.org

18/04/2026

Glamping comes to FatE!!

Love living on the festival site close to the action and friends, but finding camping a bit of a chore – why not try our glorious Glamping option?

We have teamed up with local Glamping company “Pitch” who can provide you with a choice of bell tents at different levels of luxury.
The Glamping Village will be situated within our normal camping field, but glamping has the added bonus of you not needing to fill your car with camping gear and not having to erect the tent!

There are 3 packages to choose from – 3, 4, or 5 star, depending on your requirements and budget. Tents are available for 2, 3 or 4 persons.

You can glamp between 1pm on Friday 17th July to 7pm on Sunday 19th July, but you must have a corresponding festival ticket for the same number of nights that you are glamping.

Festival tickets are available from our website - www.festivalattheedge.org

For more information and to book your bell tent go to:
https://pitch-tents.co.uk/festival-at-the-edge/

(Note: Terms and Conditions / Festival etiquette apply as normal.)

We are super excited to be a part of Festival at the Edge in 2026! We will be heading to Bromyard to set up a glamping village to help make your stay at the festival even more special.

13/04/2026

FatE 2026 - Less than 100 days to go!!

With Easter already behind us, this year feels like it’s moving faster than ever, which means that is just around the corner. Yippee!!

As you can see below, we have a fantastic range of artists booked for your entertainment. You can expect to be transported into flights of fancy and fabulous fantasies with tales from across the globe, with myths and legends from Xanthe Gresham-Knight, stories from the Caribbean from Baden Prince, Nigerian tales from Phil Okwedy, Irish tales from Story From Seeds - Maria Gillen - Storyteller, and Swedish stories from Dominic Kelly. While our main focus is on storytelling, we also have some brilliant musicians appearing including Melrose Quartet and John Tams. And we are still actively booking new artists, so keep checking our website for a list of confirmed artists to date.

Or, rather than just watching, why not get more actively involved by telling your own stories in one of our story rounds, learning new skills in our storytelling or music workshops led by some of our performers, or – if you want something more physically active you could go on a story walk, or practise tai chi and qi gong or craft workshops (Other workshops to be announced).

Whatever your age, there is something for everyone.

Don’t leave it until the last minute - book your place for a weekend filled with great stories, music and entertainment.

Festival takes place at Bromyard, Herefordshire 17-19 July 2026

Tickets and information available from our website: www.festivalattheedge.org