THE folk floodgates burst open this week, as the new season of events began across the region.

Centrepiece of the week’s highlights must be Sedgefield Folk festival, which takes over that picturesque village this weekend, with a huge list of special guests including Benny Gallagher, Marie Little, Charlie Dore, Prelude, The Young Uns, Bert Draycott, The John Wrightson Band, Ray Thom, as well as my Bad Pennies and me.

There’s also a lot going on around the village’s pubs, but please check in advance as to whether tickets are still available before turning up at the concerts themselves.

Elsewhere, Billy Mitchell and Ray Laidlaw are starting their mammoth Lindisfarne Story tour, with shows at Berwick Maltings tonight and at Darlington Civic Centre on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, Allan Taylor starts off the new season at Washington’s Davy Lamp, and up at Newcastle’s Irish Centre, the legendary duo of Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick join forces again for a rare appearance together.

On Sunday, Jim Sharp returns to his spiritual home at South Shields Customs House, and on Monday we can choose behind Wendy Arrowsmith at Newcastle’s Bridge and folk guitar wizard Nick Dow at Stockton’s Sun Inn. On Tuesday, Tom McConville is at The Clef and Cask, in Cramlington, and on Wednesday Alistair Anderson is at Ouseburn Farm, in Byker.

Overall, it certainly is a week when the “old guard” come into their own, as most of these artists have been treading the boards of the folk scene for many a year. Moreover, they’re all still as enthusiastic and as inspired as they all were when they first started, and despite predictions to the contrary, there’s still a growing audience out there keen to hear what they have to offer, and a younger generation of players equally keen to follow in their musical footsteps.