Summer is well and truly here and that means one thing – Fairport’s Cropredy Convention 2025 is just around the corner. We continue our preview of the treats in store when that magical weekend of 7th-9th August finally arrives.

Here’s our sixth and final delve into the treats that Fairport’s Cropredy Convention 2025 has to offer.

ONE OF THE GREAT BRITISH FESTIVALS

The festival has been taking place for the best part of 50 years. We hope that there are many years of life left in the old girl yet. One thing’s for certain, as long as there is a Cropredy Festival, At The Barrier will be there to absorb, report and – most importantly, enjoy the event. It’s a musical highlight of the year.

At The Barrier are huge supporters of Fairport’s Cropredy Convention. We believe that the annual event is one of the great British festivals, if not a British Institution. To get a flavour of the festival, check out our reasons why it is one of the best here.

2025 SOLD OUT!

With the constraints of the world being felt, the UK festival industry is finding life tough. The expenses involved in organising and running a festival are vast. Many festivals have sadly folded or opted to take a fallow year. The Fairport Convention team have had the foresight to continue the Cropredy festival by prudent management and planning. It will still provide the full Cropredy experience with the pleasing result that 2025 has already sold out.

In our sixth, and final, preview of the musical delights on offer, we take a look at Albert Lee, King Pleasure & The Biscuit Boys, Cropredy Primary School Folk Class and, of course, our hosts, Fairport Convention in both their acoustic and electric formats.

FAIRPORT ACOUSTIC

Here we go again! Everyone’s favourite chime of the year is now just a matter of days away and, at 4PM on Thursday 7th August, the bells of St. Mary’s Church, Cropredy, will once more let rip, to announce to the world that It’s All Come Round Again. yes, folks, Fairport’s Cropredy Convention, 2025, will be up and running.

Up at Home Farm, Fairport (acoustic) will be taking the stage. “Sixteen Ninety was the year, the bell was cast in Chacombe,” are the words we’re all waiting for Chris to sing. They’re the words that will launch the best party of 2025.

What else can we expect? Fairport’s acoustic set is intended to be short, a way of welcoming the 6,500 sell-out crowd to the village, to the field and to that special community that convenes here, in this field, every year over the second weekend in August. One thing we DO know for sure is that Fairport Acoustic will be joined onstage by the massed ranks of Joe Broughton’s Conservatoire Folk Ensemble for what we’re promised will be an incredible version of The Lark Medley. And if THAT isn’t a reason to get up to the field and to your favourite perch in time for kick-off, then I don’t know what is!

FAIRPORT CONVENTION (SPOTIFY / APPLE MUSIC)

Hands up if Fairport’s headlining Cropredy set is THE highlight of your year… So Many! Well, we’re not surprised, It’s the highlight of our year too. And, we’ve got a feeling – Fairport might have something very special up their collective sleeve for this year’s slot…

The clues were all there during this year’s Winter Tour when Fairport’s set underwent a major overhaul. Old favourites like The Rose Hip, Claudy Banks, The Hexhamshire Lass, Instrumental Medley ’85, Cell Song and, particularly, Come All Ye – the opening track to 1969’s seminal Liege and Lief album, with new Chris Leslie lyrics – all made their welcome return to the set. Expect more of the same, all complementing mainstay numbers like Sloth, Matty and, of course, Meet on the Ledge and, possibly, supplemented by a few deeper dives into Fairport’s peerless, 300-song-plus back catalogue.

We’ve made the point before, though: whatever Fairport have in mind for their headline spot will be guaranteed to delight. Surprises, special guests, old favourites – let’s leave it up to the chaps. They know what we all like and they know how to serve it up. Dave Mattacks will be back from the US and that, alone, means that fireworks are on the menu…

And, ten minutes before midnight on Saturday 9th August, drape your arms around the shoulders of your loved ones and your friends, sway along to the melody and: Sing your heart out. If you REALLY mean it, it all comes round again.

Albert Lee (spotify / apple music)

An artist we witnessed very up close and personal in Barnoldswick last October, Albert Lee’s career  has touched on many legends of rock n roll and country music . It might be easier to think who he hasn’t collaborated with but it is with The Everly brothers who he is most famously associated  and also the early days of Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings. 

Expect to hear his interpretations of  country and rock legends and if recent setlists are taken into consideration a smattering of Richard Thompson too, which would be most appropriate for the Cropredy faithful. There will be some of his own compositions thrown in too. His  much covered Country Boy is probably written in stone for his  setlist but
with his young band we are guaranteed a super ending to our first night and will warm everybody up for the next  two days.

King Pleasure & The Biscuit Boys (spotify / apple music)

Friday afternoon will no doubt see Cropredy swinging to the sounds of King Pleasure & The Biscuit Boys. Led by vocalist, King Pleasure,himself (aka Mark Skirving), the band features top-tier instrumentalists on saxophone, piano, guitar, bass, and drums delivering high-energy swing and jump blues in an authentic 1940s and 1950s sound. Formed back in the Eighties, the band has earned itself a reputation as one of the most dynamic live acts in the genre; their slick musicianship combining with just what we need – a sense of fun and showmanship.

Expect to be (a) down the front, twisting those hips and rediscovering how the joys of the jive, or (b) chair dancing to a blend of boogie-woogie, jazz, and early rock ‘n’ roll, that invoke comparisons to legends such as Louis Jordan and Wynonie Harris. The Pleasure / Biscuit dedication to vintage style, sharp suits, and rollicking rhythms should make for a nostalgic yet electrifying experience.

Cropredy Primary School Folk Class

The spotlight on Friday afternoon sees the Cropredy Church Of England Primary School Folk Class making their debut on a stage that’s probably slightly bigger than they’re used to in the school hall.

“Our young people were missing an opportunity by not learning about folk music, which is a huge part of the Cropredy community. I was determined to change that,” says headteacher Mr Reeves. The media storm created by their appearance saw the likes of the BBC News website carry the headline “School pupils to perform at folk-rock festival“.

Supported by the county council’s brilliant peripatetic folk teacher and singer, Katie Harris, pupils have been learning about local history through subtle music connections, such as Red and Gold by British folk-rock band, our heroes, Fairport Convention. The lyrics are about the Battle of Cropredy Bridge in 1644, during the English Civil War, when parliamentary soldiers failed in their attempt to capture King Charles I. The humanities have been transformed too, with children learning about the canal system that flows through the village.

It could start a new ‘Digance-esque’ trend!

Check out our Spotify playlist highlighting the artists playing at Fairport’s Cropredy Convention 2025 below.

Fairport’s Cropredy Convention 2025 has officially sold out. There are no official resale channels, but you can keep an eye on the Fairport Facebook group here, or the event page on Twickets, here.

spoti playlist

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