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McGoldrick, McCusker, & Doyle

Does Folk Music arguably get better than when these 3 luminaries get together onstage ?
Michael McGoldrick – the English master of flutes, whistles, and Uillean pipes – is joined by his mates the renowned Scottish fiddler John McCusker and exceptional Irish guitarist/vocalist John Doyle to play blistering tunes, tear-jerking slow airs, and they add a liberal dose of humour – 3 mates on stage with awesome empathy in a room perfect for their music. They may look sombre but their music certainly isn’t !

McGoldrick, McCusker, & Doyle
Thursday 4th March
Chichester Assembly Rooms, The Council House, North Street, Chichester, PO19 1LQ
Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm show, unreserved seating
Licensed bar serving Langham Brewery

Tickets on sale now at Bookends and Harbour Records in Emsworth village, at The Westbourne Cafe in Westbourne Village, & online at www.WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest

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“Traditional music at it’s most graceful, ingenious and jaw dropping” – The Guardian

McGoldrick, McCusker & Doyle are one of the most important and sought-after collaborations in contemporary Celtic music … a true folk supergroup whose influence reaches far beyond the tradition.

Individually, they are world-renowned artists; together, they form a trio whose instinctive interplay, decades-deep friendship and effortless command of their craft have made them a benchmark for modern folk musicianship.

Between them, Michael McGoldrick (flute, uilleann pipes, whistles), John McCusker (fiddle, whistles, harmonium) and John Doyle (vocals, guitar, bouzouki, mandola) have helped shape the sound of the genre for more than three decades. Their collective CV tells its own story: founding members of era-defining bands, vital members of the Transatlantic Sessions house band, BBC Folk Award winners, composers, producers, and solo artists whose fingerprints can be found across the most influential traditional and roots recordings of the last generation.

What elevates the trio even further is the extraordinary regard they command from their peers. As a collective, they are highly sought after for guest appearances and studio collaborations, bringing their unmistakable musical intelligence to projects across genres. Their playing features on work by artists such as Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Paul Weller, Steve Martin, Joan Baez, David Gilmour, Eddi Reader, Julie Folwis to name but a few – testament to the respect they hold at the highest levels of the music world. When McGoldrick, McCusker & Doyle appear on a record, it signals authenticity, mastery, and a deep-rooted connection to the heart of the tradition.

Their own trio work is equally acclaimed. From the instinctive brilliance of their first studio album The Wishing Tree to the electrifying spontaneity of their live concerts, they create music that feels both timeless and urgently alive. Sets unfold like conversations … tunes and songs passed back and forth with ease, humour, precision and playfulness … the kind of musical telepathy that can only come from growing up, travelling and playing together for most of their lives.

Bridging the Irish and Scottish traditions with grace and innovation, McGoldrick, McCusker & Doyle have become a defining ensemble of their generation. Their performances are celebrated as masterclasses in ensemble playing, rich in tradition yet always forward-looking. Audiences and critics alike praise their shows as moments of musical alchemy: spontaneous, moving, and thrillingly alive.

As individuals they are exceptional; as a trio, they are iconic.

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As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, & soft drinks

All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community, delivering musical workshops in local schools each October in celebration of Black History Month

This year our charity bucket on the bar is supporting relationships & sex education in local schools, delivered by Options Chichester – please do help us support this important work

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance at adwemsfest@gmail.com or 07802 500 050 and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

Blazin’ Fiddles

The Blazers are comin’ back!

Blazin’ Fiddles
Tuesday 17th November
St James Church, Church Path, Emsworth, Hampshire, PO10 7DP
Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm show, unreserved seating
Licensed bar serving Langham Brewery

Tickets on sale now at Bookends and Harbour Records in Emsworth village, at The Westbourne Cafe in Westbourne Village, & online at www.WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest

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From the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, they’ve been literally blazin’ a trail for nearly 30 years. The Blazin’ Fiddles comprise fiddlers Jenna Reid (Shetland), Kristan Harvey (Orkney), Rua Macmillan (Highlands), joined by the driving accompaniment of Angus Lyon (piano), and Anna Massie (guitar).

Multi-award winners as individuals, and collectively, ‘The Blazers’ are the finest exponents of their native Scottish fiddle styles and always up for the craic !

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As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, & soft drinks

All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community, delivering musical workshops in local schools each October in celebration of Black History Month

This year our charity bucket on the bar is supporting relationships & sex education in local schools, delivered by Options Chichester – please do help us support this important work

TopHouse, with support from Raynes (SOLD OUT)

Fast-paced, high-energy foot stompers. Ballads that’ll make you cry. It’s kind of like a rock band married old-fashioned bluegrass and had a little baby. And named it TopHouse. We can’t wait to have them on our WemsFest stage!

🎶 TopHouse, with support from Raynes 🎵
🗓️ Saturday 14th November
📍 Westbourne Community Hall (AKA Westbourne Club), River Street, Westbourne, West Sussex, PO10 8TG
🕗 Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm show, unreserved seating
🍷 Licensed bar serving Langham Brewery 🍻

🎫 Tickets on sale now at Bookends and Harbour Records in Emsworth village, at The Westbourne Cafe in Westbourne Village, & online at www.WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest

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Folk? Bluegrass? Rock? Irish? Pop? TopHouse are taking America by storm and the UK are up next! Don’t miss their WemsFest debut as part of their UK tour this autumn!

TopHouse is a Montana-raised Americana/Folk band made up of Jesse Davis, Joe Larson, Will Cook, and Andy LaFave. Created in 2015, the band began as a duo when two Music Composition majors at the University of Montana, guitarist/songwriter Jesse Davis and violinist William Cook, realized they loved playing music together and wanted to start – immediately. Lacking both a drummer and a singer, the first iteration of TopHouse was a virtuosity ‘Celtic folk’ instrumental duo with next-to-no connections. For about a year TopHouse performed in the bottom of parking garages in the cold Missoula air because “the reverb was cool.” William and Jesse eventually snuck their way into a local farmer’s market, and then moved onto the illustrious stardom of coffee shops, breweries, and weddings….the rest is history and you should come meet the excellent band they created when they play the intimate Westbourne Community Hall in November!

British-American act Raynes have wasted no time making themselves heard. Signing with Sony Music Publishing less than a year after their inception, the group has since released six singles and four EPs, performed at BottleRock Festival in 2025 and at sold-out venues across the US and the UK. Now, their singular blend of pop, folk, and world music is being featured on television shows, commercials, and tastemakers’ playlists, earning them hundreds of thousands of monthly listeners and millions of streams across platforms. Join us for fun when they share the stage with TopHouse in November!

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All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community, delivering musical workshops in local schools each October in celebration of Black History Month

This year our charity bucket on the bar is supporting relationships & sex education in local schools, delivered by Options Chichester – please do help us support this important work

Ímar

A welcome back to one of the most exciting bands on the Celtic Music scene. The 5 band members of Ímar hold a plethora of All-Ireland and All-Britain music titles, not to mention BBC Folk Awards, BBC Radio Scotland Awards, and more. Boasting members of Mec Lir, Mànran, Talisk, and RURA, this band are a joyful powerhouse of music who never rest on their laurels !

Ímar
Tuesday 3rd November
St James Church, Church Path, Emsworth, Hampshire, PO10 7DP
Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm show, unreserved seating
Licensed bar serving Langham Brewery

Tickets on sale now at Bookends and Harbour Records in Emsworth village, at The Westbourne Cafe in Westbourne Village, & online at www.WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest

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Adam Brown (bodhrán), Adam Rhodes (bouzouki), Mohsen Amini (concertina), Ryan Murphy (uilleann pipes) and Tomás Callister (fiddle) share a strong background in Irish music – although only Murphy actually hails from Ireland; Rhodes and Callister are from the Isle of Man, whilst Amini is a Glasgow native, and Brown originally from Suffolk – and it is these foundations which underpin many of Ímar’s distinctive qualities, in both instrumentation and material.

The band’s unmistakable synergy centers on the overlapping cultural heritage between Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. All three places once shared the same Gaelic language and a similar kinship endures between their musical traditions.

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As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, & soft drinks

All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community, delivering musical workshops in local schools each October in celebration of Black History Month

This year our charity bucket on the bar is supporting relationships & sex education in local schools, delivered by Options Chichester – please do help us support this important work

Habib Koite, and Sura Susso

WemsFest & African Night Fever proudly present Senegal’s iconic musician, singer, songwriter (now based in Mali) Habib Koite, with members of his band Bamada and other West African musicians, and Gambian kora player Sura Susso.

Habib Koite, with Sura Susso
Saturday 31st October
The Old Malthouse AKA Chidham Village Hall, PO18 8TP
Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm show, unreserved seating with room for dancing
Licensed bar serving Langham Brewery

Tickets on sale now at Bookends and Harbour Records in Emsworth village, at The Westbourne Cafe in Westbourne Village, & online at www.WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest

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The dance floor will be full as the musicians celebrate the music release of ‘Manding Melodies’ which showcases the evolving role of the modern griot and highlights it’s continued relevance both within the Manding community and globally.

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As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, & soft drinks

All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community, delivering musical workshops in local schools each October in celebration of Black History Month

This year our charity bucket on the bar is supporting relationships & sex education in local schools, delivered by Options Chichester – please do help us support this important work

Fairport Convention

Fairport Convention! in a fantastic new-to-us venue!

Fairport Convention
Tuesday 27th October
Horndean Technology College (Barton’s Hall)
Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm show, unreserved seating
Licensed bar serving Langham Brewery

Tickets on sale now at Bookends and Harbour Records in Emsworth village, at The Westbourne Cafe in Westbourne Village, & online at www.WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest

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The 4-piece line-up (sans DM) include this new (to us) venue and we couldn’t be happier.
Great sightlines and facilities, and just off the A3M. You know what to expect – bad jokes from Ric, deadpan bass-playing from Peggy, and combined great musicianship when Simon, and Chris join their buddies to romp through an ever-growing repertoire now dating back nearly 60 momentous years

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As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, & soft drinks

All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community, delivering musical workshops in local schools each October in celebration of Black History Month

This year our charity bucket on the bar is supporting relationships & sex education in local schools, delivered by Options Chichester – please do help us support this important work

Quimantu – The Tree Sings

Quimantu will return to WemsFest in October! (PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE FROM 14/11 TO 24/10)

Quimantu
Saturday 24th October
The Old Malthouse AKA Chidham Village Hall, PO18 8TP
Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm show, unreserved seating
Licensed bar serving Langham Brewery

Tickets on sale now at Bookends and Harbour Records in Emsworth village, at The Westbourne Cafe in Westbourne Village, & online at www.WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest

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Reflecting the spirit of the natural world alive within their music – with many instruments made from wood – this special concert celebrates the passing of the generational baton from Chilean musician Mauricio Venegas-Astorga to his daughter Laura as Quimantu’s lead singer.

A repertoire encompassing songwriters and composers across Latin American and English traditions where Victor Jara, Maria Elena Walsh, Mauricio Venegas-Astorga, and Steve Knightley compliment the band’s unique arrangements of western classical music and English traditional songs and tunes.

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As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, & soft drinks

All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community, delivering musical workshops in local schools each October in celebration of Black History Month

This year our charity bucket on the bar is supporting relationships & sex education in local schools, delivered by Options Chichester – please do help us support this important work

Tom Robinson with Adam Phillips – ‘Then & Now’

An evening of tall tales and top tunes spanning half a century of working on the wilder fringes of the Music Industry! Encounters with Alexis Korner, Ray Davies, Elton John, Peter Gabriel, Todd Rundgren, Eddy Grant, and Brian Eno. Tom’s classic hits and more in this 2-man show featuring guitar virtuoso Adam Phillips.

Tom Robinson with Adam Phillips – ‘Then & Now’
Saturday 3rd October 2026
The Pallant Centre, The Pallant Centre, Havant, Hampshire, PO9 1BE
Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm show
Licensed bar serving Langham Brewery

Tickets on sale now at Bookends and Harbour Records in Emsworth village, at The Westbourne Cafe in Westbourne Village & online at www.WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest

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As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, & soft drinks

All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community, delivering musical workshops in local schools each October in celebration of Black History Month

This year our charity bucket on the bar is supporting relationships & sex education in local schools, delivered by Options Chichester – please do help us support this important work

Lennie Gallant & Band

Lennie Gallant has just been named 2026 Canadian Folk Music Awards Solo Artist of The Year and we are so excited he’ll be making a stop at WemsFest this autumn!

Lennie Gallant & Band
Thursday 3rd September
Westbourne Community Hall (AKA Westbourne Club), River Street, Westbourne, West Sussex, PO10 8TG
Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm show
Licensed bar serving Langham Brewery

Tickets on sale now at Bookends and Harbour Records in Emsworth village, at The Westbourne Cafe in Westbourne Village, & online at www.WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest

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Lennie Gallant, an acclaimed East Coast songwriter with sixteen albums and numerous awards, has recently released his new album, Shelter From the Storms, which has received rave reviews and sold out shows across Canada. The album reflects on the turbulent times we live in while celebrating the human ability to navigate through hardship with community, love and laughter.

A rare UK show for one of Canada’s most revered songwriters and musicians. With over 16 albums to his credit and numerous music industry awards this is a very rare opportunity to see and hear one of Canada’s greatest up close and personal.

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As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, & soft drinks

All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community, delivering musical workshops in local schools each October in celebration of Black History Month

This year our charity bucket on the bar is supporting relationships & sex education in local schools, delivered by Options Chichester – please do help us support this important work

Singing workshop with Windborne

An all-day (10am-4pm) singing workshop in-person with Windborne!

What: Singing workshop with Windborne (acclaimed singing quartet from the USA)
When: Saturday 1st August 10am-4pm (including a lunch break)
Where: Chichester New Park Centre (Old Dojo Room), PO19 7XY
Cost: £50
Bring: Packed lunch/snacks or money for lunch in Chichester, a water bottle, and a mug (if you’d like to make a cuppa)
Requirements: A love of singing and willingness to make musical fun!

Tickets for this event are available online only here, or via bank transfer (pay in full or 2 x £25 installments) – please email hellowemsfest@gmail.com for bank details

Windborne offer Old Songs, Bold Harmony, and a Profound Vocal Experience. We are delighted that they’ll be spending a day with WemsFest to get us singing together!

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About the workshop:
This all-day workshop will take place in the heart of Chichester, at the New Park Community Centre (Old Dojo Room). Self-serve tea and coffee will be available throughout the day in the small kitchen next to the Old Dojo Room. There will be a lunch break where singers can eat a packed lunch in the Old Dojo Room, walk across the street to the park for some fresh air, or take a short (5-10 minutes) wander to one of Chichester’s many shops or cafes to purchase lunch.

There will be chairs for everyone in the Old Dojo Room, but we expect Windborne will get you up and moving at points! Please let us know at adwemsfest@gmail.com if you have any accessibility requirements.

About the singing:
“The most exciting vocal group in a generation,” Windborne draw on deep roots in vocal harmony traditions while bringing old songs vividly into the present. Known for innovative arrangements, their harmonies are bold, surprising, and richly expressive.

Specializing in close harmony singing, the ensemble moves effortlessly between dramatically different styles of traditional music. Their musical knowledge spans many continents and cultures, while remaining firmly grounded in American folk singing traditions.

In this workshop, they will teach songs from their American roots, including songs of protest and freedom from their albums To Warm the Winter Hearth and Song on the Times, alongside folk songs gathered during their travels. Open to everyone, the workshop is taught entirely by ear by Jeremy Carter-Gordon, Lynn Rowan, Will Rowan, and Lauren Breunig.

About the band:
With more than 20 years spent studying polyphonic music around the world, Lauren Breunig, Jeremy Carter-Gordon, Lynn Rowan, and Will Rowan bring vibrant energy to the stage and a blend of voices shaped by decades of friendship and dedicated practice.

Their performances guide audiences across continents and centuries, illuminating the remarkable power and variety of the human voice. Alongside the music, the singers share stories behind the songs and offer insight into the traditions and styles they perform, creating an experience that is both entertaining and deeply engaging.