The first ever Folk Festival on the Isle of Arran was almost 50 years ago!

It was then re-invented in 1989 and 2019 saw us celebrate our official 25th Anniversary (it only took us 30years to get there!)

The 26th festival will see free-to-attend afternoon sessions with Uncle Keith at the Douglas Hotel, evening concerts in Brodick Village Hall and late-night sessions in the Brodick Bar.

We hope to see you there...!

The 'first' Arran Folk Festival took place in 1989, partly in a bid to attract tourists to our island during the wee lull between busy Whit Weekend and the start of the school holidays.
The Festival saw a week-long series of concerts and pub sessions take place around the whole island.  Over the next decade the festival went from strength to strength and became an established high point in Arran's tourism calendar.
The new Millennium brought with it changes and challenges: 'traditional' tourism was changing, and the original organisers were looking to pass on the baton of responsibility.

After a few potholes in the road the Festival has changed to a weekend event, and now takes place in the central location of Brodick.

Over the last 30 years there have been too many incredible highlights to fit into one webpage.  And besides, as organisers we're just a bit too biased to judge!  However, we would love to hear anecdotes from anyone who has attended an Arran Folk Festival over the years, so please feel free to drop us an email or post on our facebook page...