Latest Updates

The MFF committee wishes to say a massive thank you to everyone who made this year’s festival a success. It was, perhaps, the best festival yet!

It was wonderful to welcome young and old from far and wide, festival regulars and new faces, to enjoy new venues, new festival field events and a fine range of musical acts.

This is folk music as it should be: no corporate sponsors, no VIP tiers, no inflated ticket prices. Just great music, a generous community, and a beautiful corner of Dumfries and Galloway. See you tomorrow!

Every year the committee is genuinely pleased to be able to put the festival on again and welcome everyone back. That warmth is what keeps people returning.

OK, yeah. It’s not really an X. (And no, we don’t use X)

There are loads of activities on during the day – check out W for walk, activities and workshops and signage round the village.

There will be guided walks on Saturday – a Biosphere Guided Walk at 10 on Saturday and a Swift Walk at 8pm on Saturday, ask at the Information Stand for meeting points.

Watson's Grocers is the wonderful village shop which has everything you can possibly think of. Cash is very welcome for small purchases, cards are accepted.

There is a range of workshops and activities on during the day, including Raku pottery, axe throwing, circus skills and merry go round in the field Saturday and Sunday 10-5. David Attenborough’s 100 ^th birthday will be celebrated with films and activities at the top of the field behind the school. In the Bowling Club, there will be a Washboard workshop Saturday 10-11, folk songs workshop with Darach Saturday 11.30-12.30, Songs for Turbulent Times Saturday 1-3 and Honky Tonk singing Sunday 11.30-12.30; in the school playground the samba workshop is 1-3pm on Saturday if you feel like joining the parade.

The festival is grateful to all its backers and the many volunteers who help make this weekend happen. Without them, there'd be no festival at all.

Camping donations are £10 per person per night, with under-16s going free. We have lots of kid and family friendly activities – we’re a genuinely family-friendly festival.

There will be extra toilets on the camping site this year to relieve pressure on venue toilets. Thank you to our supplier WC in Fields.  Black waste disposal will also be available on site.

Here’s the session space run down for the festival:

The George – sessions in the café and in the riverside room – the only thing they ask is to keep the main bar area clear to allow for quick service and turnaround of customers. Wheelchair accessible.

The Institute (Glencairn Memorial Institute – upstairs hall (lift accessible) Friday 7pm – midnight and Saturday 4pm – midnight is for session players (open stage at other times). There is a bar and café running – check the programme for details.

The Old Bank (you may remember this as the Green Tea Roon) – a smaller and more intimate session space in the old RBS bank building of The Bank House on Chapel Street, diagonally across from the Institute. No bar in this space – times tbc. Please remember there is a family living in the house joining onto this space. Not wheelchair accessible – there are steps up to the space.

Please use the bins, recycling points and toilets provided across the village and campsite so we can all help keep the camping field and village clean and tidy across the weekend. 

There is a fantastic selection of quality music programmed this year – please check out the Programme for more information.

We love the short parade which is a fun opportunity particularly for kids. Look out for our human traffic cones! This year’s theme is Wings and Things – bring your own fancy dress or kids can come to the family tent on Saturday to borrow a costume or wings. The parade is at 4pm on Saturday, meet at the village car park and we'll parade down the High Street to the cherry tree. There will be samba drumming workshop earlier in the day if you want to join in and do a bit of Brazilian style carnival drumming in the parade, or if you play a brass instrument and and can wing it, feel free to bring that along too.

There is car parking in the village car park. Campervan and motorhome owners are asked not to park or sleep in the village car park or streets –  complaints from residents could threaten the future of the festival.

Petrol and diesel are available from Dalwhat Garage on the Friday but the garage is closed Saturday and Sunday. The nearest garages are St John’s Town of Dalry, about 25 minus to the west – these are 24 hour pumps – or in Dumfries, which is about 35 mins south east. There is a 22KW EV charger in the village and a smattering of slow chargers in Thornhill. Please plan ahead!

Don't forget we have a piping competition. This year we have a new piping prize in memory of Scotty, a well known figure in the village who was a keen piper and who passed away suddenly earlier this year. You can enter here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2913360278846936/posts/3205664392949855/

Alongside the headline acts, the festival programme includes an open stage opportunity which this year is running in the Institute. No need to book, this first come first served will be running 4pm-7pm on Friday and 12pm-4pm on Saturday. The bar will be open and the pop up café opens at 5pm on Friday.

Please keep the noise down after midnight to be consider of your fellow campers and the local residents.

Merch! We have some. T shirts, bags and badges, all available from the information stand. Cash or card and bundle deal available. This year we are delighted to have some kids sizes following lots of asks last year.

The Masonic is the wee white hall, right opposite The George on the High Street. There is a bar – please see the Programme for what’s on when.

The festival is organised and run by a small committee of volunteers, supported by many members of our local community. Please be considerate of our neighbours, not all of whom love folks or festivals as much as we do.

If you have feedback about the festival, please come and speak to someone at the information tent or send us a message - but please think twice before giving anything or anyone a public kicking on Facebook - we’re all just volunteers who love this place.

Please show kindness, consideration and understanding to your fellow festival attendees and to the residents of our community, not all of whom choose to participate in the festival activities. As noted before, anyone struggling to stick with the guidelines for the festival campsite or venues will be kindly but persistently asked to leave.

John Corrie was a local postmaster who meticulously documented Moniaive's wildlife and history in his 1910 book Glencairn (Dumfriesshire), The Annals of an Inland Parish and whose legacy lives on in the John Corrie Wildlife Garden.

If you need a little quiet during the festival you can find a pleasant stop off at the by crossing over the wooden footbridge just to the north of the campsite on the river walk loop.

Join In! – The festival actively encourages visitors to play their own instruments, with an open stage at the Glencairn Memorial Institute run on a first-come, first-served basis and session spaces in the Insitute, George and Old Bank.

There will be an information point in the field behind The George all weekend – come here if you have any questions or want to hand in your donations for the weekend.

In the Institute, which is on Chapel Street, over the weekend you will find in the hall upstairs (lift access available)

Friday: Open Stage 4pm-7pm (no need to book, first come first served), then 7pm- midnight session space. The bar will be open and the pop up café 5-10pm.

Saturday: 12pm-4pm Open Stage and then 4pm – midnight, session space – bar open 12pm to midnight, and café open 5-10pm. There will also be the craft fair downstairs on the Saturday daytime only.

Yes, believe it or not our tiny village has a High Street! That’s where you will find Watson’s (the shop), the George, the Masonic (venues), and it’s where the parade will come along from its meeting place at the village car park. Also on High Street is the Hive which is a shop and art gallery run by the local development trust, the Moniaive Initiative. Pop in for a new outfit, a book, or browse the latest exhibition by local artists.

Rachel, Julian and the team at the George will be serving drinks and food, providing session space and hosting a stage at the back of the café, with daytime programming by Up Yer Airts, a local organisation led by young people, empowering young people to curate vibrant cultural events and refine their craft as arts and creative industry professionals in Dumfries and Galloway. 

Please keep the main bar space clear for quick service – sessions are welcome in the café and riverside room.

Please don’t light fires on the ground in the campsite – this is part of a working family farm during the rest of the year. Barbecues are fine, as long as they are raised off the ground.

Catering will be on offer at the George, from Piccola Italia, at Jade’s pop up café in the Institute and you can buy supplies from Watson’s shop. Keep an eye out for breakfast rolls being sold by Moniaive Primary Parent Council on Saturday and Sunday in the camping field.

If you need first aid, please come to the Festival information stand at the back of the George.

Did you know the festival was a response to the foot and mouth crisis of 2001? The folk festival played a key role in helping the village recover, keeping businesses open and attracting new people who wanted to come and live in the village. Special acknowledgement to Hugh Taylor and Sue Grant who played a big role in establishing this event. The festival is really important for our rural village economy so please make use of our local businesses and donate to the festival!

Dogs are welcome but they must be kept on a lead and may not be permitted in all venues. Please bring plentiful poo bags and clear up after your canine.

Donations: there are no ticket sales — the festival operates on a suggested donation basis for camping and performances. It's not a free festival though, and donations are completely essential to ensure it can continue.

Jeezo, C’s a popular one....

Cash! There is no ATM here – the nearest one is in Thornhill about 20 mins drive away. 

Camping is available in the field at the back of the George. A donation of min £10 a night is recommended for this. Last year the site was full so a) please set up considerately and b) keep an eye on the Facebook page for updates before you travel. The campsite will not open until 4pm on Thursday and closes at noon on Monday. Please no fires, no dogs off leads, no peeing in the burn (the homes on the other side can see you, and don’t want to) and please keep the noise down after midnight. Stick to these rules or we will kindly but persistently ask you to leave.

There will also be a Craft Fair in the Institute 11-3 on the Saturday. Take cash!

Although the Craigdarroch is not in use this year, don’t worry, the George will be open as usual, as well as a marquee bar in the camping field at the rear of the George, and a bar in the Masonic. The field bar and Masonic will be opening Friday late afternoon and 12-12 Saturday and Sunday.

If you’re missing Tim, you’ll find him in the Institute running the bar there (open from Friday late afternoon and Saturday 12-12). All the bars are run by local folks. Look out for Legs Miserables, who are running the camping field bar as a fundraiser for village outdoor gym equipment.

Black and grey waste disposal will be available on the campsite over the weekend. The suggested donation for campaign is £10 per person per night which helps covers costs such as hiring in waste disposal.

So many amazing live acts! Highlights include Los Chicanos, Gravedancer, Malin Lewis Trio, Sal Tonn, Och Vey, Darach, the Water Chorus, Heather Cartwright and Sam Mabbett , Guillaume Tiberghien , Swelkie, Henry Parker,  Alula Down , Jeri Foreman and Ruth Eliza , Colin and Cat Train, and loads of others, including home grown talent from the village and local young performers on the Up Yer Airts stage. You can view the whole programme right here on the website. Gigs are not ticketed - donations are encouraged.

Welcome to our newest addition to our new website – the latest news page. As there are 26 days to go to the festival, we thought we’d do an A-Z (we might live to regret that decision). But before we go for letter A - first of all, we’d like to draw your attention to the information page and ask you to have a read . We know things will be a little different this year; you might have heard that one of our principal venues, the Craigdarroch Arms Hotel, is currently closed, so we have arranged for other venues to host live music, workshops and session spaces. This year’s music spaces will be the George; the Masonic Hall (opposite the George), the Institute and the church. Don’t worry about session spaces – there will be session spaces and when we get to ‘S’ we’ll tell you all about it.

Which brings us to….