THE first folk festival I ever went to was in Hexham, way back in 1973. I can still vividly recall the line-up of the free afternoon concert, centred on the bandstand in the park on that sunny day, and which included Nic Jones, Barbara Dickson, Ray Fisher, Hedgehog Pie, Lizzie Higgins, local blues band Pigmeat, and many more local singers whose names have sadly faded from my memory.

Vin Garbutt and The Albion Band were part of the evening show, and although my A-level results may have suffered as a result of that weekend, it was a life-changing experience for my teenage self. I often stare wistfully at that bandstand when my travels take me back to Hexham, as well they might this weekend, for the start of the annual Hexham Gathering. Events this year include Barrule at tonight, and a double header of Julie Fowlis and Breaback at The Queen’s Hall tomorrow. There’s lots more going on around the town all weekend.

Also this weekend, The Festival on The Moor at Denby Dale in North Yorkshire features appearances by John Kirkpatrick, The Wrigley Sisters, Sarah MacQuaid and Hicks and Goulburn. Saturday is a busy day in the region, with a choice of catching, Roy Bailey at Washington’s Davy Lamp, Paul Brady at Gateshead’s Old Town Hall, and Rory MacLeod at Leeming Bar Station.

This last event is part of the Swaledale Festival, which runs over the next few weeks, with several folk concerts along the way, including The Bills on May 29, Will Pound on May 31, The Hut People on June 6 and Martin Simpson on June 7. Finally, another memorable name from that 1973 Hexham Festival, Martyn Wyndham Read is back in the area for an appearance at South Shields Customs House on Sunday. It all comes round again, as someone once said.