A closing set from Levellers, the final UK festival performance from the legendary Oysterband and exclusive shows from Canadian fiddle maestros Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy as they return to the world stage are among the highlights of the first artists revealed for the 2025 Shrewsbury Folk Festival.

Oysterband will bow out with a headline slot over August Bank Holiday weekend as well as returning to their roots for one final ceilidh and talking about their careers in a special ‘An Audience with the Oysterband’ Q & A.

Celtic superstars and power couple Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy will perform their only English shows next year at the festival as they tour outside of North America for the first time in 25 years while Levellers will close the festival, headlining its Severn stage.

Also confirmed so far are Skerryvore (Scotland) celebrating their 20th anniversary, Judie Tzuke, The Henry Girls (Ireland), 9Bach (Wales), Jim Moray, The Fontanas, The Laurettes (Scotland), Naomi Bedford and the Ramshackle Band, Shrewsbury’s own Dan Owen, Edwina Hayes, Bryony Griffth & Alice Jones, We Mavericks (Australia/ New Zealand), Harbottle & Jonas, and The Norfolk Broads.

Making a welcome return after overwhelming demand from festival fans following their triumphant festival debut this year will be El Pony Pisador (Spain) with Haitian voodoo songstress Moonlight Benjamin also making a revisit.

And Shrewsbury will host one of only four exclusive festival performances from a new project by the Melrose Quartet. Music, Heritage, Place will bring to life music that is discovered through exploration of more than 600 music manuscripts and items of printed music in English county records offices as they are catalogued in an international database for the first time. The project is being funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and led by Royal Holloway, University of London and Newcastle University in partnership with the English Folk Dance and Song Society.

The festival takes place at the DMOS People West Mid Showground from August 22nd to August 25th. Day and weekend tickets, on sale at shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk, start from just £44 (plus booking fee) with carer concessions and a monthly payment plan allowing festivalgoers to spread the cost over the next eight months.