Sarah, (aka Sarell,) is a member of Tees Women Poets, and runs ‘Tees and Empathy’. Her love of the sea has inspired these ‘Beach of Dreams’ workshops, designed to free your inner poet and release a flood of ideas which will surprise you. No better place than thebeautiful sands of Saltburn for a blissful contemplation of your surroundings, with a few carefully chosen prompts to plant and nurture for later...Meeting again up on top, the ‘dry land’ we haul out onto will become an ocean of notions! Our sanctuary will give us a quiet, safe space to discuss feelings, share some writing and relax in the knowledge that although we may never have met before, we will know each other - and ourselves! - so much better. 

Maltby Sword are a community-based team of enthusiasts who specialise in traditional English Traditional Sword Dancing. They perform dances in two distinct styles; long sword dances of the Yorkshire region and the short sword or ‘Rapper’ dances from North-Eastern England .

Join the young musicians from Cream Tees, Wear'd Aliens and Byedales School Folk Band for a workshop in playing as a folk ensemble.

(11-18s only)

Four of England’s finest traditional fiddle players, Bryony Griffith, Jim Boyle, Ross Grant and Rosie Butler-Hall have joined forces to create The English Fiddle Ensemble.

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All with a passion for traditional English dance and its music, their combined repertoire is vast and includes rarely played and unusual regional tunes alongside more familiar session favourites. Their aim is to engage with the audience in a way that allows them to feel the bite and lift of four fiddles resonating to create joyous harmonies and striking rhythms.

Join us for a unique opportunity to explore storytelling through the Bengali folk art of Nakshi Kantha embroidery! Explore a handcrafted embroidered book, uncover the meanings behind Nakshi Kantha motifs, and share your own stories inspired by folklore and lived experience. Participants will have the opportunity to create their own motifs drawing on personal and collective narratives.

The sessions will be facilitated by:

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• Rumana Yasmin – Founder of Bok Bok Books, championing South Asian stories in children’s literature. (Bok Bok Books)

• Ibraheem Paling – Textile artist and Nakshi Kantha revivalist. 

• Katerina Don – Writer and curator at HerStory Foundation, passionate about transcultural storytelling. (HerStory)

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This collaboration is supported by Borderlands Creative People & Places and was funded by British Council’s International Collaboration Grant. 

The workshop will be repeated twice. These workshops as part of Saltburn Folk Festival are free, but spaces are limited and must be reserved in advance here.

Janice Burns of the Ouseburn Folk Choir will be leading this singing workshop. By the end of the session participants will have learned a folk song in three part harmony and be able to sing it all together. The workshop is open to all singing abilities, from the shower singers to the folk club singaround regulars!

Formed in 1985, Feet First Appalachian dance team is based in Chesterfield UK and is the longest-running Appalachian dance team in Britain.

1 hour workshop on the First Radio Ballad The Ballad of John Axon with film and audio clips, included is a physical demonstration of reel to reel audio tape editing that utilises the same techniques that MacColl, Parker and Seeger used to create the radio ballads (yes I still have my trusty Revox 10 inch recorder)

For context, this is the BBC's summary of the Ballad of John Axon

The first of the Radio Ballads, The Ballad of John Axon concerns a steam-locomotive driver from Stockport, posthumously awarded the George Cross for an act of heroism in 1957 when he refused to abandon his runaway train and saved lives at the expense of his own.