It’s that time of year again when we head down the M6 to the midlands for arguably, the best value festival on the circuit.

A day and a half, decent beer, friendly crowd, Border Morris, The Magpie Arc and The Men They Couldn’t Hang on the same day and all for £40 (the festival is free on the Friday night in The Crew Bar) – what’s not to like? We’re back at Queens Hall, Nuneaton for the 9th edition of best alt-folk festival of the season.

AT THE CRACK OF NOON…

We get started at the crack of noon with Erin Mansfield, whose one-person mastery of loop pedal, fiddle and whistle brought a wonderfully modern approach to their love of traditional folk music and set a very high bar for the entire day ahead. The Jon Palmer Band followed forming the first ‘big band’ of the day before a very welcome return to the saviours of the 2024 festival, The Kahunas. The Kahunas were already booked for this year and last year stepped in heroically when Lauren Smith was unable to perform. It’s safe to say that they made an incredible impression last year and people hadn’t forgotten – the crowd had swelled significantly in anticipation of their set and were thoroughly entertained once more.

RAGGED REGULARS

It wouldn’t be Ragged without Steve Bentley’s Greenman Rising (now with added brass section!) – who moved to an earlier slot for this year’s edition, quicky followed by Roving Crows – The Chief and Caitlin don’t seem to have aged a day since I last saw them in 2019, all very curious indeed and they gave a fantastic, lively performance.

Ragged favourites Leatherat and Gaz Brookfield take us into the evening following the obligatory annual ATB/FATEA curry at the nearby Ghurka Cafe. The Ragged crowd are accustomed and highly skilled in the art of audience participation – last year they came armed with tea-cups in readiness for the Merry Hell anthem Come On England, this year was an even bigger curveball when a large Ordnance Survey map was produced and proceeded to ‘crowd-surf’ it’s way around the hall during Gaz Brookfields ‘Maps’, It was a nice nod to the performer but also threatened to stop him singing and burst out laughing on more than one occasion – it was quite a surreal sight to behold.

Pons Auleius were due to perform next, but due to what sounded like a calamitous and unresolvable vehicular situation found themselves stranded in the North-East. Fortunately the quality of the bands in The Crew Bar was so high that it made it easy to find a replacement. Step up Common Culture, who had performed a great set on the main stage at Beardy Folk Festival earlier in the year. It’s fair to say that they were very happy at this opportunity to perform on the Queens Hall stage and they grabbed the virtual bull by the horns and performed an absolute barn-stormer of a set that really cemented them as a big stage band, despite their relatively fledgling status.

SENSATIONAL MAGPIES

Onto the final two acts, either of which would ordinarily be described as a headliner. Up first The Magpie Arc, in their new formation with star-substitute Sam Carter wielding a couple of electric guitars (not at the same time mind you) – would it be sacrilegious to say that I prefer this line-up? Probably, but I must admit that I do, whilst also acknowledging the enduring influence of Martin Simpson’s input into this wonderful ‘super-group’. It was a sensational set from beginning to end.

Finally the stage was taken by The Men They Couldn’t Hang with a masterclass in punk-folk, Swill started off by announcing that he would play this particular guitar for one final gig, before passing it on to Cush’s kids, a beautiful and heartfelt gesture, followed by a superb set and a fitting finale for the 2025 iteration of this cracking little festival.

Ragged Bear returns on the 31 October 2026, tickets are now available via the Ragged Bear website, why don’t you join us, centrally located, unbeatable value and a friendly crowd of those who like their folk to be LOUD!

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