Welcome to Folkeast Festival. Room to roam. Space to breathe.
21, 22, 23 August on the Sotterley Estate, Suffolk
Inspired by place
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Crafted by people
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Inspired by place 〰️ Crafted by people 〰️
“FolkEast looks to be set fair for another decade or two as quite simply, with apologies to many other fine happenings, the best festival in the country.”
Jeremy Searle - RnR 2025
Joining us in 2026
Richard Thompson / Elephant Sessions / The Young’uns / Jiggy / Sam Kelly and the lost Boys / The Magpies / Project Smok / The Waeve
. . . and many, many more
Beyond the main stages
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Music
See our full line-up for 2026. Including, Richard Thompson, Elephant Sessions, Project Smok, The Young’uns, The Magpies, The Waeve and many, many more.
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Talks
Discover all our talks and events happening on site over the weekend, from the Librarium to The Barn… there is always someone talking, so come and listen!
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Dance
As always there is a full dance programme over the weekend. There will be performances and workshops throughout the festival, in multiple venues. Come and join us!
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Art Arcade
From small beginnings of just six stalls to over 40, the FolkEast Art Arcade has become a major celebration of some of the finest local artists and creators.
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Instrumental
A celebration of musical instrument makers from across the UK and further afield. You’ll find makers of bagpipes, woodwind, hurdy-gurdies, guitars and everything else in-between.
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Food and Drink
We gave the best and most affordable festival bars in the land. Coupled with a fantastic array of local food suppliers, all offering something different and unique!
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Young Folk
Plenty for kids young and old, from the kids area, activities, sing alongs and the Youth moot, find out what will be on site this year for your little ones to get their teeth into.
Second Cousins returns to Folkeast … and gets experimental
Jon Wilks, who curates the stage, said:
“Last year was about honouring a place and its history. This year I asked myself a simpler question: would Andy Matheou have booked them? He had a questing, questioning mind, and no patience for the gatekeeping that fenced folk music in. I think he’d have had every one of these artists down those stairs.”
Second Cousins takes place on Saturday 22nd August
Last year, Jon Wilks’s Second Cousins stage brought the story of London’s legendary Les Cousins folk club to FolkEast for the first time - a day of performances, talks, exhibitions and living history that became one of the festival’s most talked-about events. In 2026, Second Cousins is back. And this time it’s taking the spirit of that basement on Greek Street somewhere altogether more unpredictable.
Les Cousins was always at its best when nobody quite knew what was going to happen next: when a singer-songwriter might dissolve into psych-blues, or a folk set might veer into jazz or avant-garde noise. That anything-goes energy is what this year’s Second Cousins stage is built around.