Liverpool’s Folk on the Dock gears up for bumper third year

Liverpool’s free folk, roots and acoustic music festival, Folk on the Dock, is hoping to surpass the 90,000 attendees it managed to attract in 2017 when it returns for its third edition this August bank holiday (24–27th).

Folk on the Dock is held in Merseyside’s Royal Albert Dock, as well as incorporating the Liverpool Shanty Festival, where live performances take place on boats around the water’s edge and in the Liverpool Maritime Museum.

This year, the event will expand beyond the Dock, stretching along the waterfront as well as into the Museum of Liverpool.

More than 200 artists will play across ten stages in all, with a special, sold-out ticketed event from Michael Head and the Red Elastic Band launching proceedings on Friday. Squeeze co-founder Chris Difford tops the weekend bill, playing the festival’s contemporary Dock Stage, which will be hosted by Liverpudlian broadcaster Janice Long.

“At a time when fewer outlets are willing to take risks on new music, urban festivals play a vital, grassroots role in giving emerging artists a platform”

“At a time when fewer outlets are willing to take risks on new music, urban festivals play a vital, grassroots role in giving emerging artists a platform – and music fans a place to witness tomorrow’s headliners early on in their career,” says Martin Blore of Fit the Bill, which produces the event in association with Royal Albert Dock Liverpool.

“Folk on the Dock came from a desire to celebrate the role that Liverpool’s waterways have played in exporting and importing music from around the world, as well as providing a diverse folk, roots and acoustic music programme that puts new talent next to music legends, and its rapid growth and popularity allows us to continue with that mission.”

Among the emerging acts tipped for big things gracing the Dock Stage this year are Blue Rose Code, The Luck, Megan O’Neil, Ian Moult and Gizmo Varillas.

They’ll share the stage with two recent award winners in the form of singer-songwriter Robert Vincent, who won the emerging artist award at the first UK Americana Awards in 2016, and Daoirí Farrell, who won two BBC Folk Awards in 2017.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.