Swanage Folk Festival

For one weekend each September this Dorset seaside town gives itself over to folk music, with a main marquee and stage on Sandpit Field and dozens of free performances filling pubs, the seafront, the bandstand and venues like The Mowlem and the Con Club. Dance sides travel from across the UK and beyond, so expect Morris teams and displays drawing on English, Irish, Bulgarian and Slovak traditions moving through the streets during the day. Alongside the ticketed evening concerts there are workshops, pub sessions, a Saturday night ceilidh and children's activities, and much of the programme costs nothing to watch. Run by volunteers with any surplus going to local causes, it keeps a community feel throughout. It tends to suit those who want a walkable, family-friendly folk weekend by the sea rather than a camping festival.