Manchester Urban Diggers and The Traditional Exchange present:

FRIVOLOUS FIELDS II - ACOUSTIC BOOGALOO - an all-day unplugged family friendly festival celebrating the folk culture of Platt Fields Market Garden.

BRING YOUR VOICES, INSTRUMENTS, AND DANCING FEET!

Booze, soft drinks, food by @mudkitchenmcr. Gorgeous artwork by @arkorbel!

Sliding scale tickets available here.

If you know you’ll be coming and are able to, please buy tickets in advance – it really helps us plan food, facilities, and staffing properly.

...and we know not everyone is in the position to buy tickets in advance, so we we will always have some tickets available on the door for if you need them.

Full line up below!

Folk Sports - Market-Garden regulars display and teach the various games and sports which have naturally appeared in the garden over the years. Expect 'Garden Cricket', Kubb, and more.

Well Dressing by Jaz - A Well Dressing is an ancient craft custom celebrating water around the UK. Jaz makes art founded by a deep reverence to nature, fostering connection and wellbeing through making. Join her throughout the day decorating our very own Well Dressing to bless the garden's waters for the coming year.

Manchester Sacred Harp - Uplifting social singing in the tradition of the Sacred Harp, a choral tradition dating back to the 1800s.

Storytelling Workshop - Workshop by Rosheen O'Hanlon about engaging with stories all around us.

Troubador - An exciting 12-piece young Manchester ensemble, performing medieval troubador songs, Sephardic, Arabic, and Andalusian folk music.

Folk Poetry Workshop - Workshop by the Garden's Poet-in-residence Joey Frances, exploring the poetry of the Market Garden.

Tahitian Dance Workshop

Adam Curry - Appalachian folk and finger style blues on banjo and guitar, exploring the tragic life and music of Doc Watson.

Chermansog - Chermansog fuse traditional Northern-English Folk, dance music, noise, metal and experimental improvisation to form a wholly unique sonic beast.

Beginner Folk Session - A session for musicians of all experiences looking to get into folk music, or improve their skills.

Experimental Folk Session by Brown Wimpenny - An open session for all led by members of 12-piece Manchester folk behemoth Brown Wimpenny, focusing on drone, noise and improvisation.

The Cutty Wrens - A Manchester folk duo resurrecting radical songs and tunes.

Jon Loomes - A traditional singer and guitarist inspired by the great revival performers, Jon weaves magical, sensitive accompaniments in the finest traditions of Martin Carthy and Nic Jones.

Open Session by The Traditional Exchange - A music session for all, open to music and song from any tradition to celebrate the garden's cultural diversity. All voices and musicians welcome.

Jennifer Reid - Jennifer performs Victorian and Georgian Lancashire dialect work song and broadside ballads sung on the streets of Manchester. She has performed internationally and locally to support communities to express their identity and heritage by understanding global capitalism through song.

Well Dressing Ceremony - A gathering of the whole festival, featuring poetry, song, celebration and joy. Facilitated by Jaz.

Kurdish Dancing - A kurdish circle-dancing event led by Govend Manchester, with a live Kurdish band formed from the local community.

Open 'mic' by Scribblingtown - An unplugged open mic giving all voices the opportunity to perform.