By BRIAN TILLEY btilley@cngroup.co.uk

Published at 09:10, Monday, 07 May 2012

WHATEVER the weather, the third Bellingham All Accoustic Musical Festival will go ahead this weekend.

A special wooden walkway leading down to the festival site has been built.

Both stages are under canvas, with heating and flooring in the main marquee.

The three-day event, based at Riverdale Hall Hotel, will see more than 100 performers take to the stage at various venues round the village.

Advertised main stage headliner Johnny Dickinson has had to cry off due to illness, but has been replaced by Eddie Walker who went down a storm at the 2010 festival.

Eddie is a veteran of five decades on the British and international folk circuit and plays a heady mix of American Roots styles from old folk blues and ragtime to western swing and hillbilly country.

Other attractions include Whapweasel, the Tom McConville Band, Mambo Jambo, Brooks Williams, Walsh and Pound, Lady Maisery, Yvonne Lyon and Kim Edgar, Flossie Malavialle, Adrian Nation, Richard Grainger, and Sam Sallon.

Also performing will be Bellingham’s own Landermason, the organisers of the festival.

The festival site is situated in the grounds of the country house hotel, with two covered stages, stalls, activities for children and a real ale bar.

The four main stage concerts require tickets, but up on the hotel terrace, both tomorrow and on Sunday there will be a wealth of local talent including Hexham Village Band, Devil’s Water, Jinski, Pete Ryder, Jiva and RachAlana. This stage is completely free!

In addition to this, a host of other fringe events will be taking place in and around the village itself.

Tonight will see the return of the popular student concert in Bellingham Town Hall, which this year features The Stocksfield Stompers, Jessica Lamb, Jane Oxnard, Sophie Lynch, Rach Alana, Beth and Will Chamberlain plus a special appearance by Derbyshire duo (BBC Folk Award finalists) David Gibb and Elly Lucas who are also doing a workshop at Bellingham First School earlier in the day.

The village itself will be alive with interesting sights and sounds tomorrow starting with a performance by Bellingham Middle School’s Sound of Samba in Manchester Square, an afternoon concert with Ian McKone in the Reed Hall and an open folk session with Canny Crack in The Black Bull.

There will also be a local craft and produce market in the town hall between 10am and 2pm.

On Sunday morning, a song-writing workshop with Pete Scott will take place in one of the newly furbished railway carriages at the Heritage Centre followed by an afternoon concert with Ribbon Road at Reed Hall and performances by visiting bands in both The Rose and Crown and The Cheviot Hotel.

The event will also see the launch of The Tradition Lives On a celebration of the folk culture of North Tynedale and Redesdale on DVD/CD made by the Heritage Centre at Bellingham.

Further information and details of ticketing can be found at www.baafest.co.uk

Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk