Shovel Dance Collective + Lucy Kitchen

The nine-piece folk band bring music from their latest album ‘The Shovel Dance’ to kick off our Summer Festival 2025.

Following in the footsteps of groups like Lankum, Shovel Dance Collective are driven by a passion for the traditional music of the British Isles, Ireland and beyond.

Their plaintive, melancholic and powerful sound world weaves together dark, earthy textures from acoustic instruments, improvisation, field recordings, and experimental sounds. With instruments such as harp, harmonium, banjo, strings, and flute, and their unpolished voices, the Collective bring a radical new lens to historical narratives.

Their latest album ‘The Shovel Dance’ has been widely praised for its reinterpretation of British folk music by The Wire, MOJO, Songlines. It is their second to be named Album of the Year by The Quietus. Sell-out shows across the UK include Cafe OTO, Kings Place, Cecil Sharp House and Strange Brew Bristol.

With songs dating back to 1600s, at the same time they give their songs and experimental edge as akin to Scott Walker or Swans, as Shirley Collins – situating them at the bleeding edge of folk.