WITH a host of new events taking place starting today, Leigh Folk Festival is back and it’s a bigger year than ever for the popular event.

A new stage in Southend, a film screening of cult classic the Wicker Man, a special comedy night at Three Flying Ducks and involvement from local YMCA youngsters will all add to the usual top-notch folk acts that will make the cobbles of Old Leigh and the library gardens ring with music.

As usual, the festival organisors have carefully assembled a bill that blends traditional folk artists with new, experimental and crossover acts to keep the appeal broad and exciting.

“It’s absolutely what we’re about,” says artistic director Paul Collier.

“I’m very keen to promote that aspect of the festival. It really covers lots of things people wouldn’t consider to even be folk music.

“We refuse to be hemmed in by some dictionary definition of what folk music should be. We always have to think about what kind of festival it is. It’s a free event and it attracts all kinds of people. It does attract the card-carrying folkies but there are all sorts of music fans who come.”

The bill ranges from folk legend Martin Carthy, who will headline with a ticketed event at St Clement’s Church, and folk favourites, like Jez Lowe and Alasdair Roberts, to Martin’s support act You Are Wolf, which sees musician and composer Kerry Andrews add an electronic angle to traditional music.

There’s also Brit folk youngsters Mawkin, Sharron Kraus, Danny and the Champions of the World, Welsh/Iranian musician Roshni Nasehi and her musical partner Graham Dids aka Pars Radio and country rockers the Rockingbirds.

Paul says: “It’s the biggest music line-up we’ve ever had – about 120 acts in total. If you’ve got that size of programme, you can afford to be experimental and dip your toes in all sorts of different areas.

“We’ve got very traditional acts, folk-influenced noise bands, quite a lot of Americana in the broadest sense of the word, psychedelic folk, shanty singers, barbershop quartets and people from a more indie scene like Darren Hayman. Burton Bradstock do modern jazz interpretations of folk songs.”

New additions this year include a stage in Southend’s Warrior Square, hosted by Tom Burgess, who runs the Railway Hotel’s Shangri-La music nights.

It will tie in with the town’s Sparks Will Fly celebrations and feature acts, including headliners the Rockingbirds, Plantman and Steve Hooker. Tom is also at the helm for a centenary tribute night to folk legend Woody Guthrie, who was born in 1912, which will take place at the Railway Hotel on Friday.

A stage will also feature the work of volunteers from Southend’s YMCA, who will not only help out with the running of the festival, but also put on a stage featuring the likes of Sky’s Must Be the Music stars Missing Andy and acoustic artist Sheila Lord to name a few.

Popular comedy night Three Flying Ducks will feature a folk festival special bill of Fake Thackray, and ukelele- wielding comic Helen Arney.

There’ll be the usual array of dancers and processions – and one very important addition to the line-up, the festival’s own specially brewed ale from George’s Brewery, which will be available from the festival’s beer ten in the library gardens on Saturday and on Strand Wharf on Sunday.