WOODBRIDGE will be alive with the sounds of music, the rhythm of dance and the clatter of clogs next month as it hosts the second Suffolk Folk Festival.

WOODBRIDGE will be alive with the sounds of music, the rhythm of dance and the clatter of clogs next month as it hosts the second Suffolk Folk Festival.

Nearly 200 performers from 25 groups and clubs will participate in the event over three days, starting on Friday, June 2.

The event will be accompanied by a beer festival, and the highlight will be a folk-rock Ceilidh, which is expected to attract around 300 people.

The festival was first held last year and its success has encouaged organisers to expand this year's event.

Groups have already been booked from five English counties, plus one from France.

Other groups from as far away as Iraq and India have also expressed an interest in taking part, and the influx of visitors attracted to the event will include a group of 30 from Germany.

A variety of open air events will be staged at 11 locations in the town centre, in Elmhurst Park and on the riverside, with shanty men and dance groups ranging from three different kinds of Morris dancing to Sword and Appalachian clog dancing.

Musicians and singers from the area will be performing in the town's pubs.

The Ceilidh, which features folk rock group The Aardvark, will be held from 7pm to 11pm on Saturday, June 3, in the Dome at Woodbridge School. Tickets can be booked on 01473 785180 and are £5 for adults and £2.50 for under 16s.

All the other events at the festival, which is sponsored and organised by Ipswich based Tradition magazine's Paul Salmon in conjunction with Woodbridge town centre coordinator Marion Wells, are free.

The Beer Festival will run from 11am to 5pm on Saturday, June 3. The Anchor, The King's Head and the Olde Bell and Steelyard will all take part in the festival, which takes place in Carlow's Room at the Bull Hotel, where ten guest beers will be on offer.

WEBLINK:

www.onesuffolk.co.uk/suffolkfolkfestival