Live music acts added to the bill at Keswick arts festival

A festival of creative arts taking place in Keswick later this month will feature live music from local musicians.

Eden Valley Artistic Network’s weekend event at the Pencil Factory is now in its second year and will see musicians playing outside while the Packing Hall will house the exhibition of a wide range of arts and crafts by local artists.

They will be performing under the outdoor canopy in front of the old factory buildings each day of the festival, as follows:

Friday August 18: 12.30-1.30pm Jilly Jarman; 2-3pm Tailgate Buskers; and 3.30-5pm Nightjrrs. 

Saturday August 19: 12.30-1.30pm Ian Cumpstey; 2-3pm Peter Michael Rowan; and 3.30-5pm Valiant Knights.

Sunday August 20: 11am-12pm John Chambers; and 12.30-1.30pm Kev Kendal.

Jilly Jarman is a composer and jazz improviser as well as a visual artist, film-maker and creative director of BlueJam Arts. She writes and performs jazz and improvised music in various bands and acapella formats. 

Tailgate Buskers offer fiddle harmonies – some original tunes as well as re-worked old favourites. Brought up on folk, they are also influenced by Bluegrass. 

Nightjrrs create music through complex layering of sound, music, spoken word, poetry, found sound, and song. The material often relates to the environment, time and place in a post-industrial world. 

Ian Cumpstey sings and plays old-time and fingerstyle guitar and clawhammer banjo, performing lyrical songs. 

Singer/songwriter Peter Michael Rowan plays the guitar and fiddle and his singing and playing roll back to Tom Paxton, Gordon Lightfoot and Paul Simon. 

Valiant Knights are a live folk-rock band playing the songs of Mike Turnbull. Expect stories, legends and observations from Cumbria and around the UK in a mix of melodic, upbeat songs. 

John Chambers plays guitar and sings, performing self-penned lyrical ballads of place, time and family. 

Kev Kendal is a singer/songwriter who performs mod, Britpop and indie with energy and originality.

There will be seating under the canopy for the audience and refreshments offered by local caterers, Shake, Waffle & Roll and Moon and Sixpence.

EVAN director, Maggi Toner-Edgar, said: “Since the renovation of the home of the Cumberland pencil, the Eden Valley Artistic Network is delighted to present a fantastic Festival of Music and Art to showcase our local artistic talent. 

“Our first event, in 2022, was a very enjoyable, memorable event with a lovely friendly vibe”.