Last updated at 20:10, Thursday, 16 February 2012

Two of British folk music’s biggest names have been lined up to play at Workington’s first ever major music festival.

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Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, who have inspired generations of musicians through their work with the likes of Steeleye Span and Fairport Convention, will perform together at the Nuts In May festival at Middlemoor, Stainburn.

They will be joined on the May Day bank holiday weekend bill by singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw, known for his 1985 performance at Live Aid.

Singer and guitarist Carthy has been one of the most influential figures in British traditional music since the 1960s, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon.

He has been involved with many musical collaborations.

He has sung with The Watersons since 1972, was twice a member of Steeleye Span, and was a member of the Albion Country Band 1973 line-up.

He has had a successful musical partnership with wife Norma Waterson and their daughter Eliza Carthy.

For many years Carthy has enjoyed a creative partnership with fiddle player Swarbrick.

Swarbrick is best known for his many years as a member of pioneering folk rockers Fairport Convention.

He featured heavily on Fairport Convention’s seminal 1969 album Liege and Lief, which initiated the British electric folk movement.

Kershaw’s Wouldn’t It Be Good reached number four in the UK singles chart in 1984, followed by his biggest hit I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me, which reached second spot.

In 1985 he was among the performers at Live Aid, held at Wembley Stadium, and has recorded and toured ever since.

They join Hazel O’Connor, who was revealed as one of the bill’s headliners when the new festival was announced towards the end of last year.

The festival will be held in 50 acres of woodland with six stages.

Among the other acts confirmed are Emma’s Imagination, the musical name of acclaimed artist Emma Gillespie, London quintet The Magic Tombolinos, MJ Hibbett & The Validators, and Mad Dog Mcrea.

Joanne Braniff, festival committee member, said: “The idea of Nuts In May has been an ambition of my partner Alwyn and me for eight or nine years.

“We discovered festivals 20 or so years ago and want to bring the joy and experience of a real festival to our very own doorstep.

“We believe that Nuts In May will be a festival that Workington and West Cumbria can be proud of and the community can feel part of.

“We really want to help dispel the myth that nothing ever happens here and be rightly acclaimed as a destination people from outside our region are attracted to.”

Tickets for the festival, from May 4 to 6, are available online at www.nutsinmayfestival.co.uk

First published at 19:21, Thursday, 16 February 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk