Eddi Reader and The South will be among the headline artists at this year’s Purbeck Folk festival. Running over the Bank Holiday weekend, 21-24 August, on a working sheep farm in the heart of the beautiful Isle of Purbeck, the Festival promises four days of fine music, great food, fancy dress, comedy, film and magic on Dorset’s stunning Jurassic Coastline. 

“We’re delighted that two of Britain’s most popular live acts are coming to Purbeck this year and we know they’ll bring the party with them,” says festival director Michael Callaghan. 

Eddi Reader MBE started her career singing backing vocals for the likes of Gang of Four, Billy MacKenzie, Eurythmics and The Waterboys, but first came to mainstream attention fronting BRIT award-winning acoustic pop outfit Fairground Attraction, whose 1988 number one single Perfect remains a classic to this day. 

As a solo artist Eddi has released a string of hit albums including her BRIT award-winning self-titled outing from 1994, Candyfloss and Medicine (1996), Simple Soul (2001), Peacetime (2007) and Love Is the Way (2009). In 2003 she released The Songs of Robert Burns with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, a project that lead to her being awarded the MBE in 2006 and updated with the release of a Special Edition album in 2009. 

Her latest album, Vagabond, is out on 3 February and has been produced by Eddi and features many of her long-term musical collaborators including her husband John Douglas (Trashcan Sinatras), Alan Kelly, Ian Carr, Ewen Vernal, Roy Dodds (Fairground Attraction), John McCusker and Boo Hewerdine. 

Also heading south – and just as beautiful as ever – The South will arrive in Purbeck armed with a sensational back catalogue of hits such as Song For Whoever, Perfect Ten, Rotterdam, Don’t Marry Her, You Keep It All In, Old Red Eyes Is Back and, of course, A Little Time, their only number one single. 

After 20 years, ten studio albums, five greatest hits compilations, 34 chart singles, 15 million record sales and performing in front of millions of fans, when time was called on The Beautiful South in 2008, not everyone was ready to leave the party. Singers Dave Hemingway and Alison Wheeler, alongside original touring members Damon Butcher (keys), Gaz Birtles (sax) and Tony Robinson (trumpet), slipped out of the retirement home and formed the nine-piece band, The South.   

Rightly proud of their history, they set off with the idea that if the fans didn’t want it, they wouldn’t do it. A few years further down the line The South now have their debut album under their belt. A self-financed labour of love, Sweet Refrains is packed with their own brand of irresistible pop melodies and laced with twists of caustic wit. 

Purbeck Folk Festival recently won the Fatea Music Award for Countryside Festival Of The Year, confirming its position as a cornerstone of the summer music festival circuit. It has previously attracted the likes of KT Tunstall, Show of Hands, The Carrivick Sisters and Karine Polwart. 

Now in its sixth year, the Festival’s catholic view of the acoustic spectrum ensures an eclectic mix of outstanding, original young folk, established roots, traditional and world music in a fun, family-friendly environment. The four stages are contained in the farm’s ingeniously converted barns and a marquee venue that hosts the Purbeck Rising final and open mic sessions. 

But there’s much more than music on offer with a host of additional entertainment that includes a comedy line-up, an on-site cinema programme, art workshops, a fancy dress parade, a poetry slam, kids’ activity pen and a beer festival with 40 local real ales, 20 ciders and even a Dorset pils lager! 

Weekend tickets (Fri-Sun) include free camping are on sale now at just £80 (£40 12-17 years, £10 4-11 years, under 4s free). Day camping is available on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at £10 a night on arrival. A limited number of Festival day tickets will also be available.

Located in the village of Langton Matravers between Corfe Castle and Swanage, Wilkswood Farm has 600 acres of land devoted to conservation and environmental protection of a wide range of habitats. There’s a handy bus to Corfe Castle/Wareham and Swanage every hour both ways; while Harmans Cross station is a 15-minute walk away where you can catch the steam train to Swanage or Corfe Castle. 

Purbeck Folk Festival, 21-24 August, Wilkswood Farm, Langton Matravers, Swanage, BH19 3DU.For more information and ticket links click here.