It’s time for Whitby, the festival no music-lover can afford to miss, as Natalya Wilson reports.

IT'S known as the festival no fan of top-notch live music and dancing should miss, and nearly 50 years after it began, Whitby Folk Week has become a tradition in its own right.

Running from Saturday to August 22, the week-long celebration of traditional music, dance, song and story-telling will see thousands of singers, musicians and dancers descend on the East Yorkshire coast for a programme that features more than 600 events.

These include workshops, concerts, singarounds, dances, musicians’ sessions, street entertainment, children’s events and a large craft fair, while fringe events blossom spontaneously in pubs and streets around the town, so there’s something for everyone, from hardcore folkies to day trippers.

The 2014 line-up features a huge variety of artists, such as Jez Lowe, The Mighty Doonans, Taffy Thomas, Mike Tickell, Stradivarious and The Spiers Family, while York’s Blackbeard’s Tea Party perform at a Narnia-themed ceilidh on August 21 and the Goathland Plough Stots are among several dance troupes to entertain throughout the week.

Many workshops are open to all ages and abilities, including sessions in Irish, clog or sword dancing, or learning an instrument such as the whistle, fiddle or even the nyckelharpa. There are also cumulative workshops, which are essentially short courses, and the organisers advise selecting these as early in the week as possible.

Children of all ages are catered for with daytime events throughout the week, including Whitby Yoof Club, an opportunity for youngsters to make new friends and learn some dances, songs, tunes and more from some of the folk scene's top performers. The workshops are progressive and culminate in a showcase performance on August 22.

This year, the festival has introduced the Whitby Folk Week Young Musician Award, an great opportunity for young musicians to present their talents to a wide and knowledgeable audience. The prize is a booking at next year’s festival.

One of the festival's organisers, Barry Evans, says: “There'll be concerts during the week in commemoration and anniversary of the First World War, while our evolving tradition theme will continue in promoting young, upcoming artists on the festival scene.

“We're pleased to welcome The April Verch Trio from Canada on their first visit to Whitby and, as always, no Whitby Folk Week would be complete without The Wilsons, fresh from their success with The Last Ship with Sting and Jimmy Nail.”

To find out more details and to book tickets, visit .whitbyfolk.co.uk