EDMUNTON Folk Festival, in Canada, has always been one of my favourites, ever since I first came here with my Bad Pennies in 1996. It’s also one of the biggest events of its kind in North America.

This year the organisers took a bold step and avoided booking established well-known names and targeted a much younger dynamic with most of the main-stage performers being recently established acts.

The old guard was represented by people like Andy Irvine, James Keelaghan, Daniel Lanois, Albert Lee and Los Lobos, but it was people like Michael Franti, Imelda May and Ben Howard who were the focus of attention. The gamble certainly seemed to pay off and we all had a fine time in the sunshine.

There’s a common complaint about UK festivals that too often it’s the same names booked year after year, and while it has to be acknowledged that the British scene is a very different animal, maybe there’s a lesson or two to be learned from the Edmonton approach.

I’m off now to my third and final festival of my Canadian excursion, while back at home you can catch Bernard Wrigley at Bishop Auckland Town Hall next Wednesday, and then we will all be gearing up for Whitby Festival which starts next week.

That is one UK festival where new names and established acts can always rub shoulders and play music together, much to the delight of all concerned.