Towersey Festival Bids Farewell with Final Lineup

The weekend will close a great era as the Towersey Festival bids its last adieu, closing the curtains on the UK’s longest independent music festival. Since it began in 1959, the festival has always been about celebrating roots and folk music, ending its existence at the Claydon Estate in Buckinghamshire from Friday, August 23, to Monday, August 26.

Owing to the festival’s perpetual financial struggles, it was a hard decision that they made, making this year the ultimate send-off. Towersey has rolled out a tremendous lineup of more than 100 artists over 10 stages to bid it adieu.

Some big names in the folk and rock scene, like the legend Billy Bragg and Seth Lakeman, the celebrated singer-songwriter, are at the top of the billing for the last festival. The renowned female folk-rock trio The Staves, the Scottish folk rockers Tide Lines, and the American singer-songwriter Pokey LaFarge will all also perform. A highlight for the whole weekend is set to be the career-spanning set by the godfathers of punk folk, Oysterband.

From 1965 to date, Towersey was created by Denis Manners MBE, which is five years before Glastonbury came to be. It has been a treasured institution in British music, where friendly, communal vibes combined with deep devotion to the traditional aspects of folk music.

The gathering of its audiences to the closing concert is filled with nostalgia. Towersey has been about more than music; it has been an institution that saw generations of people come together to celebrate the power of music in uniting and inspiring. It will end on the perfect note to pay that rich testimony forward to live on after the last note dissolves in the atmosphere.