Dance

The festival with dance right at its heart!

Ceilidhs, workshops, dance shows & more… pack your dancing shoes because you’re going to need them!

We always have an incredible line up in the dance tent, located right in the heart of the festival site, so come and join the fun.

Watch the dance teams perform, bring your friends or make new ones in any one of our many social ceilidhs and dances, hone your skills in our dance workshops or watch the mischief and mayhem of the morris teams in their annual get together.

For more about our morris and dance side programme, click here.

2024 Dance Bands

Arbrevyn with Bagas Fellyon (Nos Lowen)
Banter (ceilidh) | Caller Sheena Masson
Club Débris (contra dance) | Caller Rhodri Davies
Cri du Canard (bal)
Crowdy Kit (ceilidh) | Caller Tom Kitching
EFDSS Ceilidh Workshop Band (ceilidh) | Caller Prue Reilly
James Delarre, Saul Rose & Dave Delarre (ceilidh)
Monster Ceilidh Band (ceilidh) | Caller Annie Bolt
Sarah Matthews & Doug Eunson (eurodance)
Spiers & Boden (ceilidh) | Caller Phil Bassindale
Tom Moore & Archie Churchill-Moss (bal)
The Shrewsbury All Star Ceilidh Club | Caller Erin Mansfield
Steamchicken (ceilidh) | Caller Ian Nichols
The Oakstone Trio (Playford dance) | Callers Daisy Black & Andrew Swaine

Visit our line-up page to find out more!

2024 Dance Workshops

Purity Village Stage

Longsword Dance Workshop with Handsworth Traditional Sword Dancers

Saturday 11:20-12:30

Join Handsworth Traditional Sword Dancers as they take you through the basics of Longsword dancing and show you why their tradition has persisted for more than 150 years!

Cotswold Morris Workshop with The Outside Capering Crew

Sunday 11:20-12:30
Join the marvellous Outside Capering Crew for a Cotswold Morris workshop to learn from some of the best Cotswold dancers in the land, including multiple Sidmouth Jig Competition winners!

Northwest Morris Workshop with Liberty Hill

Monday 09:30-10:20

Join Liberty Hill for an introduction to Northwest Morris – a great chance to break in your clogs!

Dance Tent

Medieval & Early Dance Workshop with The Dancing Mister

Saturday 09:45-10:45

Tim Walker has been teaching and running workshops in medieval and early dance for more than 25 years. These dances from the 14^th and 15^th centuries are simple but huge fun and are the root of many of the surviving traditional and social dances across Europe. Suitable for all ages and abilities. Get ready for a good laugh!

Polska Workshop with Lucy Huzzard

Sunday 10:00-11:00

How many ways can you count to three? How does the ‘turny roundy’ bit work? What even is a polska anyway? De-mystify the great mysteries of the dancefloor and have fun learning the shuffling, spinning joy of Swedish dance with Lucy Huzzard. Lucy spent a year studying folk dance at the Eric Sahlström Institute in Sweden and has since been running workshops in the UK in Swedish dance on her own and with the Third Beat Dance Collective. Music from Hazel Thompson and Rowan Piggott. Come in something comfortable and your slidiest shoes.

Cotswold Morris Workshop with Great Western

Monday 09:45-11:00

Not got your Cotswold fix yet? Join the wonderful Great Western for a marvellous Monday morris workshop!

Morris Spot

Border Workshop with Domesday Border

Sunday 14:30-15:30

If you’ve seen Border dancing at the festival and fancy giving it a go, join the wonderful Domesday Border on Sunday for an introduction to the style!

2024 Dance Show

Ballet Folk presents Rhythms of Migrations with Eliza Marshall and Catrin Finch

Saturday 16:00-17:00 in the Dance Tent

Celebrating our deep interconnection with nature through the universal language of music and dance.

The powerful message of award-winning album Freedom To Roam: The Rhythms Of Migration is brought further to life, now woven through with brand new choreography from Ballet Folk.

This stunning new collaboration communicates themes of compassion, humanity, rewilding, and hope through art, highlighting our intricate relationship with the land and each other.