THE first local folk festival of the year takes place in Northumberland this weekend, in the picturesque village of Bellingham, and organised by those nice people from the weekly BAA Club.

It starts tonight with an opening concert featuring American duo Steve and Kristi Nebel, and then across the weekend we can expect appearances by top dance band Whapweasle, local duo Landermason, guitar wizard Eddie Walker, zany Celtic duo Chris Sherburn and Denny Bartley, Tyneside’s Gareth Davies-Jones and displaced Teeside favourites Megson.

That’s a very lively and varied line-up for what will hopefully be the first of many future festivals.

Elsewhere in the region, there’s a lot going on as usual, starting tonight with a choice between Irish songstress Niamh Parsons at Newcastle Irish Club, and Liverpool’s own Hughie Jones at Darlington Arts Centre.

Tomorrow The Georgian Theatre Royal presents an evening of world music from dynamic duo Mambo Jambo, and then on Saturday Swaledale Outdoor Club in Richmond have Hartlepoolbased acapella combo The Young ‘Uns and Iain Glover as guests at their monthly folk night. Across in Whitby on Saturday, Badapple Theatre’s production of The Land Girls of Yorkshire continue their current sell-out tour with a show at The Coliseum, for which I myself have written the songs and music.

Meanwhile, Vin Garbutt’s gig at Middlesbrough Conservative Club on Friday has had to be postponed, as Vin is still stuck in Singapore, on his way home from Australia. Finally, you may recall my worries at the start of the year about the folk magazines Living Tradition and Sing Out, both of whom were experiencing financial difficulties in bringing out new issues.

Happily, both have risen to the task, and brand new editions of both magazines have now surfaced, packed with interesting and informative stuff, and available by mail-order from their respective websites.